Museum für Gestaltung Zürich

The Toni-Areal site is the beating heart of the Museum für Gestaltung Zürich. Housed in a former milk processing plant, the building has been transformed into a dynamic cultural hub that it now shares with the Zurich University of the Arts. This setting gives the museum a unique energy, as students, designers, and visitors mingle in the same creative space. The exhibitions here draw from the museum’s vast collection of over half a million objects, ranging from furniture and product design to posters, textiles, and everyday artifacts. What makes Toni-Areal particularly engaging is the way it presents design as a living process. Visitors can see not only finished works but also the sketches, prototypes, and experiments that shaped them. The Swiss Design Collection is especially impressive, offering insight into the country’s long tradition of precision, clarity, and innovation. Alongside historical pieces, the museum also highlights contemporary design, showing how today’s creators reinterpret and challenge tradition. The architecture of the building itself, with its industrial past and modern reuse, mirrors this dialogue between history and the present. For anyone interested in design as both heritage and forward-looking practice, Toni-Areal is a must-visit and arguably the most comprehensive of the three sites.

If you're visiting this museum, definitely opt to pay for entry to both locations. We visited this one with our kids and only had a day in Zurich so skipped the other location. That being said, the Design for All? exhibit was really cool with plenty to hold the interest of myself, my wife (who is a graphic designer), and our two kids (7 and 5). There was a good variety of design fields represented, from engineering to signage to fashion. Our kids particularly loved learning about braille with the hands on braille Lego set. Really nice selection in the gift shop too, and the building that houses the museum is great for a wander, with some really lovely spaces and architecture. The location is super, being very close to transport links.

The exhibition “Fotoatelier Wolgensinger – Between Four Eyes” is truly fascinating. It draws you in from the very first images, with photography that feels both intimate and expressive, offering a deep and personal perspective. A remarkable discovery !

cool experience, lots to see. Two floors, with lower archives being good for a short visit. Majority of the museum can be experienced on the upper floor. Be sure to open up the sliding drawers to check out posters, and other design artwork.

Of the two locations of the museum, this was the most interesting to me and the one more true to the "museum of design" name. It has an exhibition of Swiss industrial design, plus a very interesting exhibition of old photos of Switzerland in the basement.

Modern museum. Works only until 5pm (on weekends also). Check the nice museum shop for special objects or books. There is much space for all kinds of activities. The coffee stand was closed and a cantina was dead empty and uninviting. Visited an exhibition about Japanese Graphics art and liked it very much.

Super cool exhibition on right now with the works of Margrit Linck, Switzerland’s peioneering Ceramicist! The museum store is also next level! Loved the curation! It is within a university building for art students so there is a buzz and art vibe everywhere there!

For me the best museum ever! Always interesting exhibition topics with a focus on design. I also love the small shop with the products and the coffee place Inside.

Place to be. Entrance a bit pricey as for number of exhibitions- there were 3 rooms in total. Great for social design passionates as Well as for communication freaks. I didn't like that no photos nor having your bottle of water were allowed but overall very interesting content and very cool things to see.