24 Apr 2023
Young V&A, designed with and for young people, to open in July
BY Tom Walker
A museum dedicated to children will open its doors in London, UK, on 1 July 2023.
The new £13m Young V&A is set to become the UK's leading cultural destination for children, families, and young people.
Designed by De Matos Ryan and AOC Architecture, the museum is the result of a three-year redevelopment of the iconic, Grade II*-listed V&A Museum of Childhood in London's Bethnal Green.
Dedicated to children aged between 0 and 14, Young V&A’s mission is to inspire the next generation of artists, designers, performers and practitioners.
Created collaboratively with children, the museum has been shaped around their interests to encourage playful learning, foster creative agency, and spark imaginations.
Young V&A will house three galleries – Play, Imagine and Design – which are "rooted in research into early years’ development".
They will help children build the skills and creative confidence they need to thrive in a fast-changing world.
The galleries are packed full of interactives and hands-on activities for all ages.
These include colourful and tactile sensory landscapes for infants and toddlers, performance and story-telling spaces for early readers and writers, an open design studio where children can learn from leading designers, as well as topical contemporary displays and a games design space for teens.
Among the highlights is an interactive Minecraft installation in the Play Gallery’s game design space, ‘The Arcade’. The installation, built by Blockworks with support from Mojang and Microsoft, begins in a recreation of Young V&A’s Town Square, before taking visitors across real and imaginary worlds created by Minecraft players across the globe.
Dr Tristram Hunt, director of the V&A, said: “Children and young people have been disproportionally affected by the pandemic and its aftermath, alongside the dramatic fall in creative education in schools.
"Young V&A is our response: a flagship project investing in creativity with and for young people and their futures.
"We are using our stunning collection of art, design and performance to open the nation’s favourite design club for all children and young people.
"In new galleries and exhibitions, from early years spaces to teenage games design rooms, our plan is to foster Britain’s next generation of artists, thinkers, makers, innovators, and entrepreneurs.”
Find out more in our piece by V&A director Tristram Hunt here.
Close Window