How the Design Museum saved 480kg of Carbon in Barbie®: The Exhibition

For Barbie®: The Exhibition, the design teams at the Design Museum were instructed to try to reuse any elements of build material from previous shows within the exhibition's design. 

Beginning by showing previous layouts of Design Museum exhibitions to exhibition designers, teams discussed what would be possible for the Barbie exhibition. One element in particular, a rotunda from REBEL: 30 Years of London Fashion which had been home to a portion of the exhibition about Alexander McQueen, was confirmed for reuse. 

Knowing that the rotunda would be reused, the Design Museum's team then moved on to the technical design stage of the project. Once the construction drawings had been created, the rotunda was sent to the build contractor for the needed changes before being returned to the Design Museum to be installed for the exhibition. 

By repurposing a portion of REBEL: 30 Years of London Fashion's build for Barbie®: The Exhibition, the Design Museum was able to minimise the overall carbon footprint of both exhibitions, saving 480kg of CO2 emissions. Additionally, this instance of reuse decreased the demand for new materials and reduces the environmental impact of extracting, processing and transporting supplies such as MDF and plywood. 

This environmentally conscious exhibition practice if applied by other similar institutions on a wider scale would help reduce waste, carbon emissions and save budget lines.