Design Museum Gent
| Vereniging voor Nijverheids- en Decoratieve Kunsten | |
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 Location within Belgium
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| Established | 1989 |
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| Location | Ghent, Belgium |
| Coordinates | 51°03′21″N 3°43′13″E / 51.055833°N 3.720139°E |
| Director | Katrien Laporte |
| Public transit access | Korenmarkt Gravensteen |
| Website | designmuseumgent.be/en |
Design museum Gent is the only museum in Belgium with an international design collection. The museum complex, situated in the heart of the tourist centre of Ghent, comprises an imposing 18th century mansion and a modern wing. The museum possesses a comprehensive and trend-setting collection of Belgian design, supported by international top-class objects. Its collection includes everything from the Art Nouveau of Henry van de Velde to contemporary avant-garde design.
Design museum Gent originates from a private initiative of a group of industrials and art lovers who united themselves in 1903 in the ‘Union des Arts Industriels et Décoratifs’ and created a ‘Musée des Modèles’. Initially, the collection consisted of some hundred fine examples of furniture, complemented by extensive subcollections of ceramics, copper and bronze, furniture fragments and a large textile collection. These models were housed in the Ghent municipal academy, situated in the Sint-Margrietstraat.
Owing to purchases in the various pavilions during the Ghent 1913 World Exhibition and further extension of the collection, a new accommodation became a necessity. In 1922 the museum moved to Hotel de Coninck on the Jan Breydelstraat, which the city of Ghent had bought a couple of years earlier. In 1951, under the leadership of a new director, Adelbert Van de Walle, three shows called the National Salons for Modern Social Furniture were organised. These took place in 1955, 1956, and 1957. They invited local manufacturers to exhibit their furniture showcased in rooms as fictitious domestic environments and to take orders placed by visitors, thus facilitating the distribution of modern, affordable design. By 1958, the financial burden had become too much for the Association of Industrial and Decorative Arts, and the city of Ghent took over the administration and management of the museum. Between 1958 and 1973, the museum was closed due to renovation works. Its reopening was followed by an expansion plan, ensuing in the inauguration of a new wing in 1992, which accommodates both a selection of the modern and contemporary design collection and temporary exhibitions. The new extension was designed by architect Willy Verstraete and was officially opened in May 1992. In the modern part of the building, a huge hydraulic lift in the central section can be used to make the floors adaptable. The current policy of the museum puts greater focus on Belgian design from 1970.
The museum collection has evolved from 17th and 18th century applied arts towards modern and contemporary design from 1860 till now. The objects prior to 1860 provide the historic basis on which modern and contemporary design are engrafted. Design museum Gent prefers to use a broad definition of design, based on a series of criteria that can - to a more or lesser degree - be found in a design product: contemporaneity, innovation, ergonomics, durability and aesthetic relevance. Both serial products and unique objects can comply with these requirements. Innovation can relate to form, function, material and production techniques. Purchases and exhibitions are focused on 20th century and contemporary creations.
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