ADI Design Museum

The Compasso d’Oro collection at the ADI Design Museum

The Compasso d’Oro has been Italy’s prize for industrial design since 1954, and the ADI Design Museum keeps its historic collection. These are things you’d use at home or pass in the street: a bathtub from 1957, the Luisa chair, the Guya seat of 1989, a stove from 2001 and the Boma bus shelter of 2004. It’s a museum of everyday design, with no fashion or fine art.

The prize was the idea of the architect Gio Ponti, and the collection grew so important that in 2004 Italy’s Ministry of Culture declared it of exceptional historic and artistic interest. The museum looking after it was founded in 2001 and moved here, to a restored 1930s tram depot and power station near Porta Volta, in May 2021.

What’s on show at the ADI

The permanent show, Compasso d’Oro. Misurare il mondo (“measuring the world”), starts at the entrance, and two more shows, La Collezione del Compasso d’Oro and Antologica, draw on a collection of more than 350 objects chosen since 1954. Two video installations come from two Milan schools, the Politecnico and the IED.

When you’re done there’s a shop, the Treccani Lab, and the ADI Design Bistrot, and children from 5 to 13 can join the Junior Design Lab workshops, which have their own ticket.

Paying at the ADI: cards only

A full ticket is €15, and the desk takes only cards, so leave the cash in your pocket.

With a YesMilano pass, the ADI is one of the premium picks.

The ADI Design Museum closes on Fridays, not Mondays

Last entry is at 19:15, 45 minutes before closing.

Getting to the ADI Design Museum at Porta Volta

The entrance is on Piazza Compasso d’Oro 1, which you reach from Via Ceresio 7 or Via Bramante 42, next to the Fabbrica del Vapore. The nearest metro stop is Monumentale on the M5, and Garibaldi FS on the M2 is the other option. Trams 2, 4, 10, 12 and 14 and buses 57, 70, 84 and 94 also stop nearby.