Design Museum Gent

Design Museum Gent is a design museum in Ghent, Belgium, sitting right in the city's tourist centre. It holds a collection of Belgian design, supported by international objects, giving visitors a view into both local design traditions and broader, global trends.

Where is the museum located?

The museum complex is made up of two connected buildings that together create a distinctive architectural contrast. One part is an 18th-century mansion — a building representing Ghent's historic residential architecture. The other is a modern wing, built in a clearly contemporary style. The pairing of old and new is itself a kind of introduction to the subject of design, showing how form and function have shifted across the centuries.

Because the museum sits in Ghent's tourist centre, it's easy to combine a visit here with a walk through the rest of the historic city centre.

What is in the collection?

The core of the collection is Belgian design — objects, furniture and design pieces that document how the field developed in Belgium. This collection is supported by international objects, which means visitors get to see Belgian design set against a wider, global backdrop rather than as an isolated story.

The exhibition space spans both buildings of the complex, which allows older, historical pieces and more contemporary design work to each be shown in a setting that suits them.

Practical information

Design Museum Gent is open Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday from 9:30 to 17:30, and on weekends and public holidays from 10:00 to 18:00. The museum is closed on Wednesdays, so it's worth planning a visit around that if a trip also includes other Ghent attractions. For any organisational questions, the museum can be reached by phone at +32 9 267 99 99.

Frequently asked questions

What can you see at Design Museum Gent? A collection of Belgian design, supported by international objects, displayed across two connected buildings — an 18th-century mansion and a modern wing.

Where exactly is the museum located? In the tourist centre of Ghent, Belgium, close to the rest of the historic city centre.

What are the opening hours? Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday: 9:30–17:30. Saturday, Sunday and public holidays: 10:00–18:00. Closed on Wednesdays.

How can you contact the museum? By phone at +32 9 267 99 99.

What makes this museum distinctive? The combination of two contrasting architectural volumes — an 18th-century mansion and a modern wing — within a single museum complex, which becomes part of the story it tells about design and architecture.