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Design Museum is creating new ways to display collection

The Design Museum has unveiled ambitions for a major expansion of its permanent collection gallery in time for its 40th anniversary in 2029.

The museum in Kensington, west London, has been awarded ￡267,000 from the National Lottery Heritage Fund to develop its ideas. It then hopes to apply for ￡2.7m in funding to transform those ideas into reality.

Chief curator Johanna Agerman Ross, said she had "ambitious ideas" for the collection of largely 20th and 21st-century design.

She added: "We have no concrete plans, the process starts now."

The museum's treasure trove of 4,500 items includes a recently acquired first edition1959 Barbie doll, the first iPhone and iPod and an iconic 1964 road sign designed by Jock Kinneir and Margaret Calvert.

It moved to its new home in Kensington in 2016 from a former banana warehouse near Tower Bridge and hopes to open the new gallery in time for the 40th birthday celebrations.

Following the ￡267k grant, the museum will be asking its audience "how people want to see it (the collection) displayed".

The development phase will last up to two years.

Ms Agerman Ross said: "We really hope that we will be able to give more room to the contemporary collection."

The museum says it also aims to nurture the designers of tomorrow and highlight design's role in the transition to net zero. They also want to increase visitor numbers to 800,000 by 2029.

The move comes as the museum celebrates a record-breaking year, with 260,000 people flocking to The World of Tim Burton, making the show about the film director the most visited in the museum's history.

Meanwhile Barbie: The Exhibition attracted more than 144,000 people, making it the museum's third most poplar show.

It hopes the changes at its Grade II-listed building in Holland Park will allow it to rotate its collections more frequently, display new acquisitions more quickly and change displays rapidly "to tell new stories" and showcase major developments such as new technology "with ease and without being outdated too quickly".

Tim Marlow, director and CEO of the Design Museum, said: "Expanding and improving our permanent gallery for our 40th anniversary is at the heart of our new Transformation 2029 strategy to future-proof the museum for the next decade and beyond.

"We are delighted to have received this initial support from The National Lottery Heritage Fund, and thanks to all those who contribute to the National Lottery we can now develop these exciting opportunities further."

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