Ferrari: under the skin at the Design Museum

A few weeks ago my husband and I headed over to the Design Museum in Kensington. We’ve been wanting to go ever since it re-opened in the old Commonwealth Institute on High Street Kensington. With my husbands birthday coming up I booked tickets to go and see Ferrari: under the skin which I knew he would love.

My husband loves design and we had been huge fans of the old Design Museum when it had been at Shad Thames. I love visiting museums with the children but sometimes it is lovely to have a grown up day out. We dropped the kids at school and headed to the tube, emerging at Holland Park and enjoying a walk through Holland Park (also something we’ve wanted to do for years!). This is a lovely part of London and although it was bitingly cold we enjoyed being out in the fresh air.

We found the museum entrance and were blown away by the inside of the building. It is Grade II* listed building with a stunning roof space.

It’s free to visit the museum and there is a free permanent exhibition called Designer Maker User which is well worth visiting. It’s full of iconic design and looks at the development of modern design through these three interconnected roles.

There is a cafe and shop but first we headed to the Ferrari: under the skin exhibition.

From the very first Ferrari to Michael Schumacher’s winning Formula One car and the newest hybrid model, the exhibition features rare cars and memorabilia displayed in public for the first time.

You can discover the Ferrari experience through original hand-drawn sketches, sculpture-like models and engines, alongside films and interviews telling one of the great design stories of all time.

I’m not a huge car buff but I did enjoy the exhibition. There was plenty to see and I actually enjoyed learning more about the process behind car design and testing. Alongside lots of cars there were plenty of photographs and even films. I loved watching the clips of films which featured Ferrari’s too.

We also sat and watched the short film Rendevous shot by Claude Lelouch. This is supposedly an early morning drive through the deserted streets of Paris in a ferrari, although that is now disputed. It’s still a really fun film as it was shot in a single take.

The museum exhibition is recommended for ages 6 and over and is open until 15th April.