The V&A Museum

The Victoria and Albert Museum is the jewel in the crown of London's famous South Kensington cultural area.
A stone's throw from Hyde Park, Harrods and the shopping heart of Knightsbridge, the V&A is a "must-see" on every London itinerary.
The V&A is a London institution: founded in the 1850s, it now boasts the greatest and most diverse collection of decorative art and design in the world, spanning all continents and dating from 3000BC to the present day.

Highlights of the V&A include the dazzling Dress Collection (a source of inspiration for contemporary fashion designers such as Vivienne Westwood and John Galliano); the world-famous Cast Courts (with its larger-than-life cast of Michelangelo's "David"); and over seven miles of gallery space devoted to photography, furniture, silver, ceramics, glass, painting and sculpture. Don't miss the new British Galleries, 15 beautifully-refurbished rooms telling the story of British design from 1500 to 1900 (opens 22 November 2001).

The V&A was the first museum to attract the 'working man', even going to the trouble of installing gas lights to enable people to visit at the end of their working day. At its inception, the V&A engaged with the contemporary and this is still true today.
The V&A's collections, contained within 146 galleries, are displayed in a variety of different ways, for example:

The Morris and Gamble Rooms
The Morris Room was one of the earliest commissions for an unknown designer William Morris!
These are the original refreshment rooms. Each surface in the Gamble Room is washable (and that includes the ceiling!) and the tiles were selected for both decorative and practical reasons.