Century of the Child, Young V&A
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![A gallery with curved ceiling and wooden floor. A long white plinth with exhibits runs down the left side. On the right visitors sit at low tables. A colourful entrance panel reads “Century of the Child” with words for hello in Nordic languages.]()
A playful exhibition exploring Nordic children’s design for the Young V&A, Bethnal Green.
Century of the Child: Nordic Design for Children 1900 – Today. Young V&A. 3 March – 2 September 2018. Photography by Philip Durrant.
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![A visitor stands by a long white display of colourful children’s items, including toys, clothing, furniture and playful textiles printed with clouds and vehicles. Pink and green cloud-shaped signs are suspended from the ceiling.]()
We were invited to design the Museum of Childhood’s major summer exhibition for 2018. The exhibition takes its title from the groundbreaking book by Swedish social theorist Ellen Key. Its focus on children's creativity, rights and learning through play and discovery directly influenced our approach.
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![A child plays with a wooden train set at a round wooden table. Two similar tables behind it offer building bricks and Lego. In the background, framed posters, clothing and objects are displayed on a long white plinth with pink object labels.]()
We removed the dividing walls for an open gallery space with a 20m+ long display, and interactive stations in the open space. This conscious divide between object display and social activity allowed the museum to host school groups and offer a wide range of learning activities, while keeping the exhibition open to others.
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![Two pastel yellow plywood text panels lean on an angled white plinth in front of a minimal wooden doll’s house in a gallery. The panels are titled “Creative new solutions” and “Eco-innovations.”]()
The design integrated a colourful graphic identity into a minimal design, with a palette of playful animal icons to identify each Nordic country and each exhibition theme.
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Interactive tables provided opportunities to play with classic Lego and BRIO toys. Magnetic interactives encouraged visitors to identify and match objects on display with their respective countries. A cinema room screened classic episodes of Moonmintroll and Pippi Longstocking.
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![A minimal timber frame in the shape of a rounded hut, open on one side with a low bench around its inner edge. Two adults on the bench and a child sitting on the floor play with colourful toy building bricks in blue buckets in front of them.]()
We designed a timber structure as a gathering and storytelling space, inspired by Norwegian architects Haugen/Zohar. The structure is modular, designed to come apart and be rebuilt.
