Design in Museums: Towards an Integrative Approach. The Potential of Science and Technology Museums

To deal with design in museums today means not only to look at well-established design museums but also to integrate different resources and explore the potential of other types of institutions engaged in the preservation, study and exhibition of artefacts, documents and stories of the modern world. This article focuses on science and technology museums to suggest how they may contribute to improve and spread the understanding of this phenomenon among a wider public. Three cases of European museums, which already display an interest in design, are presented with the intent to show that these institutions should be regarded not only as repositories to draw on but also as autonomous interpreters of design. The aim is to provide a basis for further discussion, to eventually rethink the position of design in museums.