The New Design Museum maps a new landscape of institutional practices across different geographical locations. It reveals how spaces of culture dedicated to design have been transforming—their missions, programs and outreach platforms—to respond to an ever-expanding outlook on design as a field that is moving beyond its traditional presentation as an object-based practice. The case studies encompass visions and practical examples from leading international institutions as well as independent initiatives and platforms, such as The World Around (Brooklyn, NY), Serpentine Gallery (London), Future Observatory at the Design Museum (London), Cultures of Assembly (Luxembourg), Loudreaders, and Non-Extractive Architecture. They are united in their search to revisit methods and canons of conventional museological traditions. They explore a composite thematic spectrum covering from global design practices invested in decolonising and queering agency, computational, ecological and indigenous knowledge, and present alternative educational and collaborative frameworks of institutional development.

The book integrates 15 interviews with directors and programmers, such as Carson Chan (MoMA, New York), Ikko Yokoyama (M+ Museum, Hong Kong), Aric Chen (Nieuwe Instituut, Rotterdam), Giovanna Borasi (Canadian Centre for Architecture, Montreal), and Lucia Pietroiusti (Serpentine Gallery, London), with a selection of 31 projects and initiatives by independent practitioners and entities beyond the traditional museum, including festivals, websites, podcasts, public programs, and off-spaces. Many of them emerged over the past decade and more intently since the outbreak of the COVID pandemic in 2020. They are evidence of the changing paradigms of public and professional engagement with the discipline of design.