V&A Dundee

"Dundee is experiencing a renaissance of late, this international center of design being the most recent addition. The first-ever dedicated design museum in Scotland—and the only other V&A museum outside of London—V&A Dundee presents “the brilliance of Scottish creativity and the best of design from around the world.” The building, designed by Kengo Kuma with extraordinary horizontal bands, is worth a visit on its own, but inside you’ll find highlights like a 15th-century illuminated manuscript and various examples of 20th-century haute couture. Also on view are rotating exhibitions covering everything from ocean liners to graphic designer Maeve Redmond."

The Essential Guide to Fife and Angus

"It’s hard to miss the new V&A Dundee. At the entrance to the city, just over the Tay Road Bridge, the new ship-like design center seems to balance above the River Tay, propped up like a boat waiting to set sail. Designed by Japanese architect-of-the-moment Kengo Kuma (who's behind the Olympic stadium in Tokyo for the 2020 Summer Games), the $100 million museum is—like its sister branch in London, one of the world's largest (and most treasured) design museums—impressive as hell. Once the V&A opens its doors on September 15 after seven years in the works, it's expected to draw 350,000 visitors per year—which more than doubles the population of the entire city. The museum will have 200 permanent exhibits that showcase Scotland’s design history (largely taken from the V&A in London), along with its first major show, "Ocean Liners: Speed and Style," which takes a look at life on board the world’s greatest ocean liners, a nod to its boat-building past. Even after-hours, the gleaming angular building lights up like a Christmas tree. The expectation isn’t only that it will illuminate the waterfront area, but the entire city of Dundee."

"In 2014, the United Nations designated Dundee as a UNESCO City of Design for its contributions to video games, textiles, and comic book design. The V&A Dundee, at the heart of the waterfront redevelopment, is Scotland’s first design museum and the only V&A Museum outside of London, offering traveling exhibitions and permanent Scottish Design Galleries." - Todd Plummer