V&A Dundee

📌 Waterfront, Dundee City
★★★

They say you shouldn’t judge a book by its cover, but the exterior of the V&A Dundee, Scotland’s new design museum, is a fantastic advert for what awaits inside. Wrapped in stepped, concrete slabs, the building on Dundee‘s renovated waterfront opened in 2018. It was the brainchild of Japanese architect Kengo Kuma and evokes a mighty ship, though apparently it was actually inspired by Scottish sea cliffs. What about the inside? The airy atrium is certainly impressive, but after you take away the spaces assigned to the reception, gift shop, cafe, restaurant, conference rooms, learning centres and so on, the gallery space left over is somewhat small. The Scottish Design Galleries are the permanent highlight, showcasing the country’s fashion, furniture, video game design (for which Dundee is well known) and architecture through the centuries, with free admission. Temporary exhibitions (sometimes with a charge) and residency workspaces fill most of the remaining areas.