Models From the Past for Future: Collection Design Museum Gent

The collection of the Design Museum Gent in an extensive and in-depth volume structured around five themes: imitation/copy, comfort, migration, folding/bending, and connections. One of two catalogues marking the reopening of the Design Museum Gent. You can’t design for the future without understanding the past. This idea underpins the new collection presentation at the Design Museum Gent. Founded in 1903, the museum has undergone a 4.5-year renovation and has now reopened, showcasing nearly 500 objects. To mark the occasion, two catalogues have been released: one extensive and in-depth, and a smaller volume highlighting 50 key pieces from the new collection presentation. Both are structured around five themes: imitation/copy, comfort, migration, folding/bending, and connections. In Models from the Past for the Future, these themes are explored through essays by experts such as British design historian and curator Cat Rossi and Vienna based art historian and curator Sebastian Hackenschmidt, alongside a range of shorter visual contributions. In 50 Highlights ISBN 9789059968189 the same themes provide the framework for a curated selection of the most significant objects in the collection presentation. Both catalogues are available separately, but also as a beautifully designed combo ISBN 9789059969308.

How can a design collection continue to inspire today? That is the starting point of the collection presentation at Design Museum Gent. After a 4.5-year renovation, the museum reopened with a new installation of almost 500 pieces: Models from the Past for the Future. Using five themes - copy, comfort, migration, folding and connections - it explores how design objects can function as 'models'. Sometimes they inspire us, and sometimes we want to rethink them. In this book, the themes are explored in depth in twelve richly illustrated essays by experts from Belgium and abroad.