Chicago Design Museum, Design museum in Chicago Loop, United States

The Design Museum of Chicago, or DMoC, is a museum of design now located at Expo 72, 72 E. Randolph St. Its exhibitions take a broad, cross-disciplinary view of design, covering graphic design, architecture, urban planning, interior design and systems thinking. It is a non-profit 501(c)(3) organization with a small staff, and much of its exhibition design, curation, registration and marketing is carried out by local volunteers.

Tanner Woodford founded the museum in 2012 as a pop-up, staging exhibitions in venues around Chicago through 2013. A successful Kickstarter campaign in 2014 funded a permanent home in the Block 37 building. In late 2018 the museum moved to Expo 72 at 72 E. Randolph St. After fourteen years, Woodford stepped down as executive director to found Iterative Work, an independent design studio.

The Chicago Design Museum shows how design shapes everyday life, from street signs to building facades. Each rotating exhibition brings a different angle from the local and international design world, making every visit feel different from the last.

Admission is free and the museum is in the heart of the Loop, within easy walking distance of other downtown attractions. Between exhibitions, it closes for several weeks for installation work, so it is worth checking ahead before visiting.

The museum's Great Ideas of Humanity series asks contemporary artists to respond to quotes by scientists, philosophers and academics, reviving a campaign first run by Chicago's Container Corporation of America. The resulting advertisements have appeared on downtown Chicago bus rapid transit stanchions and at Hong Kong's Business of Design Week InnoTech Design Expo.