Visitors in the Scottish Design Galleries

exhibition

Scottish Design Galleries

Explore the everyday relevance of design and how it improves our lives.

Head into our galleries and you can discover the many hidden stories of Scottish design which have had a global impact.

Ranging from architecture to fashion, healthcare to furniture, and engineering to video game design, around 300 exhibits have been drawn from the V&A’s world-famous collections of art, design and performance, as well as museums, private collections and designers across Scotland and the world.

Curated in collaboration with V&A South Kensington, our Scottish Design Galleries explore Scotland’s design landscape, historically and today.

Scottish Design Galleries

Free

Explore the Scottish Design Galleries

Stories

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Dundee Connections in the Scottish Design Galleries

Andrew Batchelor of Dundee Culture explores our Scottish Design Galleries with Davie, one of our amazing Visitor Assistants, to find out more about the Dundee connections within our galleries.

Conserving Mackintosh's Oak Room

Go behind the scenes with exceptional craftspeople, conservationists and curators as they painstakingly restore and reassemble one of Charles Rennie Mackintosh’s most important interiors.

Pam Hogg Catsuit

Lavender Labels in the Scottish Design Galleries

the new objects explore themes such as women in architecture, activism, LGBTQ+ history, and how design has impacted our town centres and mental healthcare.

Key Objects

Tweed Suit, Vivienne Westwood, c. 1995
Scottish fabrics including tartans, cashmere and tweeds have long been valued and used by fashion designers around the world. Only made in the Outer Hebrides, Harris Tweed is handwoven by islanders at their homes.
Valkyrie tiara
With more than 2,500 cushion-shaped, single-cut, circular-cut and rose-cut diamonds, this tiara features a pair of ‘en tremblant’ wings is constructed using wire-coiled springs so that they move slightly when worn.
Bookcase
This bookcase was designed by George Logan to be exhibited at the 1901 Glasgow Exhibition.
snap40
snap40 is a wearable device that uses artificial intelligence to monitor a hospital patient’s vital signs, alerting physicians and nurses via wireless technology if there is a problem.
Hunter Green wellington boots
This pair of classic Hunter ‘wellies’ dates from the 1980s, when the utilitarian boots became associated with the fashionable urban middle and upper classes.
The Oak Room in the Scottish Design Galleries at V&A Dundee
The Oak Room from Miss Cranston’s Ingram Street Tearooms, Glasgow, 1907, Charles Rennie MacKintosh
Linoleum elephant sculpture
Linoleum elephant sculpture designed by Eduardo Paolozzi as a promotional case for a 1972-73 catalogue from Michael Nairn & Co.
Throne chair
This lavish chair was designed by artist Robert Home, the son of an eminent Berwickshire army surgeon.
Pistol
This pistol is signed by the gunsmith Alexander Campbell and was made between 1740 and 1760.

Additional Resources

The Golden Fibre commission by Swapnaa Tamhane

The Golden Fibre

Explore images and documents from the archives that have inspired our installation The Golden Fibre.

The pop-up book set from "The Cheviot, The Stag, and the Black, Black Oil" on display in the Scottish Design Galleries at V&A Dundee

Smartify

Scan any of our objects using the Smartify app to learn more about our fascinating collection.

Shop

V&A Dundee kaleidoscope by Lesley Barnes

The Story of Scottish Design

A photo of two women standing laughing outside V&A Dundee each wearing a knitted jumper with patterns inspired by Jute, Jam & Journalism

Jute, Jam and Journalism Jumper by Donna Wilson

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Membership

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