5 design lovers on their favourite international museums

Prateek and Priyanka Raja, Co-Founders of Experimenter Gallery

The building’s main structure has four parallel walls atop which is a unique roof and lighting system. The way the roof is built gives it an overall sense of lightness while balancing the weighty concrete structure of the exterior walls. The exhibitions at Beyeler are primarily from their own collections combined with artworks loaned from some of the most important collections in the world and therefore the exhibitions they produce are truly unmissable. Some of our most memorable exhibitions at Fondation Beyeler are Doris Salcedo’s retrospective (2023), Basquiat – The Modena Paintings (2023), Mondrian Evolution (2022), The Young Picasso – The Blue and Rose Periods (2019), Bacon-Giacometti (2018), Marlene Duma (2015), Max Ernst (2013).” 

Krsnaa Mehta, Founder and Art Director at India Circus

What moves me most about MoMA is its celebration of diversity in form—from architecture and design to photography, painting, and performance. It reminds me that great design isn’t about conformity; it’s about emotion, innovation, and storytelling. Every visit reinvigorates my own creative process, making me more observant of the world around me as well as more fearless in my work.
 

Sahiba Madan, Principal Architect and Director at Insitu Design Studio

Apart from the indoor galleries that hold works by Van Gogh, Picasso, Mondrian, and Seurat, among others, the museum also features one of the largest sculpture gardens in Europe. The open-air installations are scattered across the park, and you encounter them almost unexpectedly as you cycle through the grounds. It’s a seamless blend of nature, architecture, and modern art. In many ways, the museum feels less like a formal institution and more like a home that’s been thoughtfully transformed into an evolving art space. It’s interactive, light-filled, and immersive. A place where the lines between culture and nature blur beautifully.”
 

Mahek Lalan, Director and Principal Architect at SML Architects

Naoshima itself is a quiet, rural island in the Seto Inland Sea. Chichu doesn’t sit within a dense urban context; instead, it redefines what cultural infrastructure can be outside the city—remote, intentional, and pilgrimage-worthy. It’s part of a larger ecosystem of art, architecture, and landscape that gives the island its identity. Inside, the museum is a series of precisely orchestrated spaces where art and architecture are inextricably linked. Light is sculpted to frame works by James Turrell, Walter De Maria, and Claude Monet—not just to illuminate, but to transform perception. For me, Chichu is a reminder that architecture can be both quiet and radical—disappearing into the earth, yet resonating far beyond it.”