FOR CLEAN VERSION SEE STORY NUMBER: 4063805

LEAD IN:

The art and antique market in post-Brexit Britain is booming, according to London dealers.

A weak pound against the dollar and Euro is seeing American collectors in particular start to snap up bargains.

STORY-LINE:

The art and antiques market in the UK isn't just on target, it's positively booming post Brexit.

Dealers here at the Winter Art and Antiques Fair in Olympia say it's a great time to buy because of the weak pound.

American buyers in particular are attracted to London with the newfound strength of the dollar. Looking to bag a bargain they could save around 25-30 per cent compared to six months earlier.

Craig Carrington is an antique dealer with four decades of experience.

He sells many neo-classical antiques on his stand, but his showcase piece is this bust of a Roman goddess, thought to be designed by Frederic Auguste Bartholdi, the same man who designed the Statue of Liberty.

He says: "As an antique dealer I think a weak pound is very good news because we sell to international clients and if the dollar is strong, the euro is strong then it's very good news for somebody like me, absolutely."

Art dealers are reporting a similar trend.

Tanya Baxter runs a gallery specialising in contemporary pieces. She says since the day of the referendum result, announcing Britain would leave the EU, she's been very busy.

She says many see the art market as a safe investment in uncertain times.

"And with the devaluation of the pound as well as the fact that Brexit has kind of made a cautious and volatile financial market it (art and antiques) is a very, very safe place."

According to Baxter the single largest group of buyers is coming from the USA:

"Well they're so excited particularly American collectors who we are getting calls from saying 'So what have you? Because I want to spend x amount and will fly over to do so.'"

One of the American investors who has come to London to buy is David Ryder.

The retired lawyer, originally from Chicago, had just bought this painting by British artist Amy Pugh. He says it's such a good time to buy, with the strength of the dollar against the pound, that he will return next month to buy more art.

Ryder says: "England is where we have bought probably 90 per cent of the artwork that we have, and we have a lot in numerous houses. We find this is a good country for selection of different artists, both contemporary and old artists, particularly from the auction houses and this is a particularly good time so we're here now and we'll come back in December again to look at more art."

Art and antique dealers haven't just benefited from the dip in the value of the pound. Immediately after the result of Brexit was announced British buyers quickly began to buy art and antiques fearing the collapse in the value of the pound.

Art dealer Julian Hartnoll is calling this a 'double-boom' for the industry.

Hartnoll says: "There's this nice new phrase, the double-boom. It was the English buying immediately after Brexit because they wanted to get out of pounds and get into objects because they were fearing the pound would become valueless. And then the Americans, as the pound subsided, have overcome their fear of terrorism in England and have started to buy again, so for instance last night my only clients were Americans."

Antique jewellery dealers are also benefiting.

Iranian jeweller Morteza Mojarad runs the Persis jewellers off Bond Street in London.

He says: "I've seen a big improvement, to be honest, since Brexit and that's I think because of the exchange rate, dollar to pound and especially Euro to pounds."

But if the situation is good for British based dealers, spare a thought for European antique dealers trying to sell in Britain.

David Lafleur is an antique dealer based in Paris with his shop Gallerie Buter.

The strength of the Euro might be good for some of his compatriots, but when Lafleur sells in the UK he is finding the competition difficult.

However, despite these difficulties he says he will continue to exhibit his Oriental antiques in London because international buyers have been scared away from Paris.

"Because of the economic crisis, you know, the people were afraid because of the terrorists, because of the tax. A lot of things saw the people leave France. So for us, it's better to come here in London because the people are here, the people from other countries are here."

The Winter Art and Antiques Fair in Olympia returns for its 26th year.

Around 100 exhibitors are displaying art and antiques, most are displaying collectibles at the high-end of the market.

It is the only fair in the UK to work with the top two trade associations and there is a strict vetting process for all pieces on sale at the show. Each item must be checked by a team of experts before the fair opens.

The Winter Art and Antiques Fair Olympia runs 31 October - 6 November.

London, UK - 1 November 2016

1. Pull focus of bronze Japanese archer

2. Various of Meiji period Japanese bronze crow with glass eyes

3. Mid of men admiring antique chandelier

4. Various of Dutch walnut armoire from circa 1750 with carved figures (price £35,000/ USD 42,930)

5. Wide of woman reading catalogue

6. Low angle pan right of neo-classical copper bust of Roman goddess by Frederic Auguste Bartholdi (price £16,500/ USD 20,235)

7. Various of Craig Carrington looking at bust

8. SOUNDBITE: (English) Craig Carrington, antique dealer

"As an antique dealer I think a weak pound is very good news because we sell to international clients and if the dollar is strong, the euro is strong then it's very good news for somebody like me, absolutely."

9. Art dealer Tanya Baxter showing painting to visitor

10. Close tilt down of painting 'Paper Bride in Waiting' by Zeng Chuanxing (price £120,000/ USD 147,000)

11. SOUNDBITE: (English) Tanya Baxter, art dealer and gallery owner

"With the devaluation of the pound as well as the fact that Brexit has kind of made a cautious and volatile financial market (art and antiques) it's a very, very safe place."

12. Various cutaways of Tanya Baxter showing 'Paper Bride in Waiting'

13. SOUNDBITE: (English) Tanya Baxter, art dealer and gallery owner

"Well they're so excited particularly American collectors who we are getting calls from saying 'So what have you? Because I want to spend x amount and will fly over to do so.'"

14. Various of art collector David Ryder looking at painting

15. SOUNDBITE: (English) David Ryder, retired lawyer and American art collector

"England is where we have bought probably 90 per cent of the artwork that we have, and we have a lot in numerous houses. We find this is a good country for selection of different artists, both contemporary and old artists, particularly from the auction houses and this is a particularly good time so we're here now and we'll come back in December again to look at more art."

16. Mid of portrait of Angelina Jolie by artist Bambi (price £14,000/ USD 17,000)

17. Tilt up of portrait of Amy Winehouse by artist Bambi (price £16,000/ USD 19,600)

18. Set up shot of art dealer Julian Hartnoll

19. SOUNDBITE: (English) Julian Hartnoll, art dealer and gallery owner

"There's this nice new phrase, the double-boom. It was the English buying immediately after Brexit because they wanted to get out of pounds and get into objects because they were fearing the pound would become valueless. And then the Americans, as the pound subsided, have overcome their fear of terrorism in England and have started to buy again, so for instance last night my only clients were Americans."

20. Various of jewellery seller Morteza Mojarad inspecting antique diamond ring

21. SOUNDBITE: (English) Morteza Mojarad, director of Persis antique jewellery

"I've seen a big improvement, to be honest, since Brexit and that's I think because of the exchange rate, dollar to pound and especially Euro to pounds."

22. Wide pan left of gallery showcasing large marble/ stone artworks

23. Close of 1930s Chinese coral sculpture

24. Various set up shots of David Lafleur, antique dealer based in Paris

25. SOUNDBITE: (English) David Lafleur, antique dealer based in Paris

"Because of the economic crisis, you know, the people were afraid because of the terrorists, because of the tax. A lot of things saw the people leave France. So for us, it's better to come here in London because the people are here, the people from other countries are here."

26. Tilt up of Italian silver and bronze library lamp in style of Pharaoh by Piel Paolo Spaina, circa 1810 (price £8,500/ USD 10,425)

27. Close of marble lioness circa 1780 (price £14,500 USD 17,700)

28. Wide of antique clock stand

29. Wide of grandfather clocks, tilt down

30. Close of Henry Jenkins mahogany table clock circa 1780 (price £75,000/ USD 92,000)

31. Various of woman opening clock and chiming its bells

32. Wide pan left of show floor

LEAD IN:

The art and antique market in post-Brexit Britain is booming, according to London dealers.

A weak pound against the dollar and Euro is seeing American collectors in particular start to snap up bargains.

STORY-LINE:

The art and antiques market in the UK isn't just on target, it's positively booming post Brexit.

Dealers here at the Winter Art and Antiques Fair in Olympia say it's a great time to buy because of the weak pound.

American buyers in particular are attracted to London with the newfound strength of the dollar. Looking to bag a bargain they could save around 25-30 per cent compared to six months earlier.

Craig Carrington is an antique dealer with four decades of experience.

He sells many neo-classical antiques on his stand, but his showcase piece is this bust of a Roman goddess, thought to be designed by Frederic Auguste Bartholdi, the same man who designed the Statue of Liberty.

He says: "As an antique dealer I think a weak pound is very good news because we sell to international clients and if the dollar is strong, the euro is strong then it's very good news for somebody like me, absolutely."

Art dealers are reporting a similar trend.

Tanya Baxter runs a gallery specialising in contemporary pieces. She says since the day of the referendum result, announcing Britain would leave the EU, she's been very busy.

She says many see the art market as a safe investment in uncertain times.

"And with the devaluation of the pound as well as the fact that Brexit has kind of made a cautious and volatile financial market it (art and antiques) is a very, very safe place."

According to Baxter the single largest group of buyers is coming from the USA:

"Well they're so excited particularly American collectors who we are getting calls from saying 'So what have you? Because I want to spend x amount and will fly over to do so.'"

One of the American investors who has come to London to buy is David Ryder.

The retired lawyer, originally from Chicago, had just bought this painting by British artist Amy Pugh. He says it's such a good time to buy, with the strength of the dollar against the pound, that he will return next month to buy more art.

Ryder says: "England is where we have bought probably 90 per cent of the artwork that we have, and we have a lot in numerous houses. We find this is a good country for selection of different artists, both contemporary and old artists, particularly from the auction houses and this is a particularly good time so we're here now and we'll come back in December again to look at more art."

Art and antique dealers haven't just benefited from the dip in the value of the pound. Immediately after the result of Brexit was announced British buyers quickly began to buy art and antiques fearing the collapse in the value of the pound.

Art dealer Julian Hartnoll is calling this a 'double-boom' for the industry.

Hartnoll says: "There's this nice new phrase, the double-boom. It was the English buying immediately after Brexit because they wanted to get out of pounds and get into objects because they were fearing the pound would become valueless. And then the Americans, as the pound subsided, have overcome their fear of terrorism in England and have started to buy again, so for instance last night my only clients were Americans."

Antique jewellery dealers are also benefiting.

Iranian jeweller Morteza Mojarad runs the Persis jewellers off Bond Street in London.

He says: "I've seen a big improvement, to be honest, since Brexit and that's I think because of the exchange rate, dollar to pound and especially Euro to pounds."

But if the situation is good for British based dealers, spare a thought for European antique dealers trying to sell in Britain.

David Lafleur is an antique dealer based in Paris with his shop Gallerie Buter.

The strength of the Euro might be good for some of his compatriots, but when Lafleur sells in the UK he is finding the competition difficult.

However, despite these difficulties he says he will continue to exhibit his Oriental antiques in London because international buyers have been scared away from Paris.

"Because of the economic crisis, you know, the people were afraid because of the terrorists, because of the tax. A lot of things saw the people leave France. So for us, it's better to come here in London because the people are here, the people from other countries are here."

The Winter Art and Antiques Fair in Olympia returns for its 26th year.

Around 100 exhibitors are displaying art and antiques, most are displaying collectibles at the high-end of the market.

It is the only fair in the UK to work with the top two trade associations and there is a strict vetting process for all pieces on sale at the show. Each item must be checked by a team of experts before the fair opens.

The Winter Art and Antiques Fair Olympia runs 31 October - 6 November.

London, UK - 1 November 2016

1. Pull focus of bronze Japanese archer

2. Various of Meiji period Japanese bronze crow with glass eyes

3. Mid of men admiring antique chandelier

4. Various of Dutch walnut armoire from circa 1750 with carved figures (price £35,000/ USD 42,930)

5. Wide of woman reading catalogue

6. Low angle pan right of neo-classical copper bust of Roman goddess by Frederic Auguste Bartholdi (price £16,500/ USD 20,235)

7. Various of Craig Carrington looking at bust

8. SOUNDBITE: (English) Craig Carrington, antique dealer

"As an antique dealer I think a weak pound is very good news because we sell to international clients and if the dollar is strong, the euro is strong then it's very good news for somebody like me, absolutely."

9. Art dealer Tanya Baxter showing painting to visitor

10. Close tilt down of painting 'Paper Bride in Waiting' by Zeng Chuanxing (price £120,000/ USD 147,000)

11. SOUNDBITE: (English) Tanya Baxter, art dealer and gallery owner

"With the devaluation of the pound as well as the fact that Brexit has kind of made a cautious and volatile financial market (art and antiques) it's a very, very safe place."

12. Various cutaways of Tanya Baxter showing 'Paper Bride in Waiting'

13. SOUNDBITE: (English) Tanya Baxter, art dealer and gallery owner

"Well they're so excited particularly American collectors who we are getting calls from saying 'So what have you? Because I want to spend x amount and will fly over to do so.'"

14. Various of art collector David Ryder looking at painting

15. SOUNDBITE: (English) David Ryder, retired lawyer and American art collector

"England is where we have bought probably 90 per cent of the artwork that we have, and we have a lot in numerous houses. We find this is a good country for selection of different artists, both contemporary and old artists, particularly from the auction houses and this is a particularly good time so we're here now and we'll come back in December again to look at more art."

16. Mid of portrait of Angelina Jolie by artist Bambi (price £14,000/ USD 17,000)

17. Tilt up of portrait of Amy Winehouse by artist Bambi (price £16,000/ USD 19,600)

18. Set up shot of art dealer Julian Hartnoll

19. SOUNDBITE: (English) Julian Hartnoll, art dealer and gallery owner

"There's this nice new phrase, the double-boom. It was the English buying immediately after Brexit because they wanted to get out of pounds and get into objects because they were fearing the pound would become valueless. And then the Americans, as the pound subsided, have overcome their fear of terrorism in England and have started to buy again, so for instance last night my only clients were Americans."

20. Various of jewellery seller Morteza Mojarad inspecting antique diamond ring

21. SOUNDBITE: (English) Morteza Mojarad, director of Persis antique jewellery

"I've seen a big improvement, to be honest, since Brexit and that's I think because of the exchange rate, dollar to pound and especially Euro to pounds."

22. Wide pan left of gallery showcasing large marble/ stone artworks

23. Close of 1930s Chinese coral sculpture

24. Various set up shots of David Lafleur, antique dealer based in Paris

25. SOUNDBITE: (English) David Lafleur, antique dealer based in Paris

"Because of the economic crisis, you know, the people were afraid because of the terrorists, because of the tax. A lot of things saw the people leave France. So for us, it's better to come here in London because the people are here, the people from other countries are here."

26. Tilt up of Italian silver and bronze library lamp in style of Pharaoh by Piel Paolo Spaina, circa 1810 (price £8,500/ USD 10,425)

27. Close of marble lioness circa 1780 (price £14,500 USD 17,700)

28. Wide of antique clock stand

29. Wide of grandfather clocks, tilt down

30. Close of Henry Jenkins mahogany table clock circa 1780 (price £75,000/ USD 92,000)

31. Various of woman opening clock and chiming its bells

32. Wide pan left of show floor

LEAD IN:

Designs inspired by the London Underground and Brexit are now on show in the new-look Design Museum in Kensington.

The new space is in a Grade-II listed piece of 1960s modernist architecture, three times larger than the Museum's previous home.

STORY-LINE:

Meet Mimus the mechanical robot who only wants to be your friend.

This 1,200kg industrial arm has been programmed to respond and interact with passersby.

Mimus is the one of the attractions in the new Design Museum in London.

Art critic Estelle Lovatt is one of the first people to get a look around the museum

"You know what I think of the new building, and I use the word sit as well, I love the fact that as soon as you walk in you can walk up the stairs and you can also sit on them. That struck me that there's so much humour here as well. You know I love the fact that this piece here behind me, I don't know whether to laugh at it or be afraid of it but it's the interactiveness of this museum that will make it steps ahead of, leap years ahead of the other museums that we go into now," she says.

The Design Museum outgrew its previous home on the South Bank of the Thames and has moved into Kensington, a district well-known for its important museums, including the Natural History Museum, the Science Museum and the Victoria and Albert Museum.

The new building occupies a Grade-II listed modernist site created in the 1960s for the Commonwealth Institute.

The restoration of the empty building took five years and required an £83 million investment.

Museum director Deyan Sudjic explains the importance of the move.

He says: "The design museum is here in its new home in Kensington, new home? Actually the transformation of a building from the 60s. We've moved from a charming converted banana ripening warehouse next to Tower Bridge here to this great piece of 60s architecture brought back to life. We've moved because we think design is to important to leave to the specialists, to the priesthood, we're trying to do here for contemporary design and architecture what the Tate Modern did for contemporary art. Turning something that was seen as on the margins of the wider conversation into something right at the centre. So we have three times the space, 100,000 square feet, we can offer free admission. We have a chance really to talk to a much wider audience why design is important."

The Design Museum opens with a striking exhibition called Fear and Love, which challenged 11 designers to react to a wide range of issues that affect the modern world.

Dutch designer Christien Meinderstma's installation Fibre Market explores the possibility of recycling our clothes and sorting them into their constituent parts.

The work displays mounds of brightly coloured wools.

A New York architect has created a space that looks at how social networking is affecting our pursuit of sex.

His work explores the phenomenon of the gay networking site Grindr.

One of the most topical works in the exhibition is Pan European Living Room.

In post-Brexit Britain the piece looks at how our interior design is so closely connected across Europe.

It takes a typical living room and furnishes it with furniture, wallpaper and designs from the 28 EU member states.

Justin McGuirk, chief curator at the Design Museum, says: "The average European living room, or our idea of the domestic interior, is really a construct of European cooperation and collaboration, trade agreements, designers from Britain and Holland working with manufacturers in Italy and Sweden and so in some senses the idea that one can pull out of that is an illusion."

The centre-piece of the room is a vertical blind featuring a barcode design of the EU member states' flags.

When the blind opens it reveals a vista of the shattered city of Rotterdam in 1945 at the end of World War II - a stark reminder of what can happen when European countries stop cooperating.

The Design Museum's deputy director Alice Black wants people to feel that they are involved in the evolving story of design.

She created a crowd-sourced feature asking people to nominate items in their everyday lives.

Black explains: "So behind me you will see a crowd-sourced wall, so what we did we asked our audiences what they wanted to see in a design museum, we sort of turned the table on them and said what do you think is good design, what in your every day design objects make a better life or a more beautiful life around you. So they sent us about 850 nominations from about 25 different countries and we selected 250 pieces that are on the wall behind me."

There surely can't be many museums where a Fisher Price talking telephone, a Nintendo Gameboy and the Holy Bible all share the same wall space.

The new Design Museum is expected to attract up to 650,000 visitors in its first year and is free to enter, for the first time.

London, UK - 17 November 2016

1. Wide of robotic arm

2. Close of same

3. Various set up shots of Estelle Lovatt taking selfie with robotic arm

4. SOUNDBITE (English) Estelle Lovatt, independent art critic:

"You know what I think of the new building, and I use the word sit as well, I love the fact that as soon as you walk in you can walk up the stairs and you can also sit on them. That struck me that there's so much humour here as well. You know I love the fact that this piece here behind me, I don't know whether to laugh with it or be afraid of it but it's the interactiveness of this museum that will make it steps ahead, leap years ahead of the other museums that we go into now."

5. Mid of robotic arm

6. Tilt up of entrance to Design Museum with stairs doubling up as seats

7. Wide tilt down from concrete ceiling to museum entrance

8. Various set up shots of walking up stairs and through museum

9. SOUNDBITE (English) Deyan Sudjic, director of Design Museum:

"The design museum is here in its new home in Kensington, new home? Actually the transformation of a building from the 60s. We've moved from a charming converted banana ripening warehouse next to Tower Bridge here to this great piece of 60s architecture brought back to life. We've moved because we think design is to important to leave to the specialists, to the priesthood, we're trying to do here for contemporary design and architecture what the Tate Modern did for contemporary art. Turning something that was seen as on the margins of the wider conversation into something right at the centre. So we have three times the space, 100,000 square feet, we can offer free admission. We have a chance really to talk to a much wider audience about why design is important."

10. Mid of exhibit Room Tone that uses wearable technology to record London city life

11. Various of exhibit Fibre Market that demonstrates how wool clothes can be recycled and sorted by colour

12. Mid of neon panel reading: (English) "Love/Fear"

13. Various of exhibit looking at the Grindr ( gay social network app) phenomenon

14. Various of exhibit by Chinese fashion designer Ma Ke who uses ancient wooden looms to create the fashions

15. Pull focus from Italian Arco lamp to British wallpaper by Nina Campbell

16. Wide of the Pan European Living Room exhibit - a room furnished with designs from each of the 28 member states of the EU

17. Pan left of blinds in the colours of EU member state flags#

18. Mid of Romanian coffee pot by Ero on a coffee table

19. Various set up shots of Justin McGuirk

20. SOUNDBITE (English) Justin McGuirk, chief curator, Design Museum:

"The average European living room, or our idea of the domestic interior, is really a construct of European cooperation and collaboration, trade agreements, designers from Britain and Holland working with manufacturers in Italy and Sweden and so in some senses the idea that one can pull out of that is an illusion."

21. Wide of Pan European Living Room exhibit with photograph of Rotterdam in 1945, destroyed after World War II as a backdrop

22. Various set up shots of Alice Black

23. SOUNDBITE (English) Alice Black, deputy director of the Design Museum:

"So behind me you will see a crowdsourced wall, so what we did we asked our audiences what they wanted to see in a design museum, we sort of turned the table on them and said what do you think is good design, what in your every day design objects make a better life or a more beautiful life around you. So they sent us about 850 nominations from about 25 different countries and we selected 250 pieces that are on the wall behind me."

24. Mid of crowdsourced design wall with Underground sign in centre

25. Close of Fisher Price talking telephone

26. Pan right from violin to Game Boy and Bible

27. Various exterior shots of Design Museum

FOR CLEAN VERSION SEE STORY NUMBER: 4066587

LEAD IN:

Designs inspired by the London Underground and Brexit are now on show in the new-look Design Museum in Kensington.

The new space is in a Grade-II listed piece of 1960s modernist architecture, three times larger than the Museum's previous home.

STORY-LINE:

Meet Mimus the mechanical robot who only wants to be your friend.

This 1,200kg industrial arm has been programmed to respond and interact with passersby.

Mimus is the one of the attractions in the new Design Museum in London.

Art critic Estelle Lovatt is one of the first people to get a look around the museum

"You know what I think of the new building, and I use the word sit as well, I love the fact that as soon as you walk in you can walk up the stairs and you can also sit on them. That struck me that there's so much humour here as well. You know I love the fact that this piece here behind me, I don't know whether to laugh at it or be afraid of it but it's the interactiveness of this museum that will make it steps ahead of, leap years ahead of the other museums that we go into now," she says.

The Design Museum outgrew its previous home on the South Bank of the Thames and has moved into Kensington, a district well-known for its important museums, including the Natural History Museum, the Science Museum and the Victoria and Albert Museum.

The new building occupies a Grade-II listed modernist site created in the 1960s for the Commonwealth Institute.

The restoration of the empty building took five years and required an £83 million investment.

Museum director Deyan Sudjic explains the importance of the move.

He says: "The design museum is here in its new home in Kensington, new home? Actually the transformation of a building from the 60s. We've moved from a charming converted banana ripening warehouse next to Tower Bridge here to this great piece of 60s architecture brought back to life. We've moved because we think design is to important to leave to the specialists, to the priesthood, we're trying to do here for contemporary design and architecture what the Tate Modern did for contemporary art. Turning something that was seen as on the margins of the wider conversation into something right at the centre. So we have three times the space, 100,000 square feet, we can offer free admission. We have a chance really to talk to a much wider audience why design is important."

The Design Museum opens with a striking exhibition called Fear and Love, which challenged 11 designers to react to a wide range of issues that affect the modern world.

Dutch designer Christien Meinderstma's installation Fibre Market explores the possibility of recycling our clothes and sorting them into their constituent parts.

The work displays mounds of brightly coloured wools.

A New York architect has created a space that looks at how social networking is affecting our pursuit of sex.

His work explores the phenomenon of the gay networking site Grindr.

One of the most topical works in the exhibition is Pan European Living Room.

In post-Brexit Britain the piece looks at how our interior design is so closely connected across Europe.

It takes a typical living room and furnishes it with furniture, wallpaper and designs from the 28 EU member states.

Justin McGuirk, chief curator at the Design Museum, says: "The average European living room, or our idea of the domestic interior, is really a construct of European cooperation and collaboration, trade agreements, designers from Britain and Holland working with manufacturers in Italy and Sweden and so in some senses the idea that one can pull out of that is an illusion."

The centre-piece of the room is a vertical blind featuring a barcode design of the EU member states' flags.

When the blind opens it reveals a vista of the shattered city of Rotterdam in 1945 at the end of World War II - a stark reminder of what can happen when European countries stop cooperating.

The Design Museum's deputy director Alice Black wants people to feel that they are involved in the evolving story of design.

She created a crowd-sourced feature asking people to nominate items in their everyday lives.

Black explains: "So behind me you will see a crowd-sourced wall, so what we did we asked our audiences what they wanted to see in a design museum, we sort of turned the table on them and said what do you think is good design, what in your every day design objects make a better life or a more beautiful life around you. So they sent us about 850 nominations from about 25 different countries and we selected 250 pieces that are on the wall behind me."

There surely can't be many museums where a Fisher Price talking telephone, a Nintendo Gameboy and the Holy Bible all share the same wall space.

The new Design Museum is expected to attract up to 650,000 visitors in its first year and is free to enter, for the first time.

London, UK - 17 November 2016

1. Wide of robotic arm

2. Close of same

3. Various set up shots of Estelle Lovatt taking selfie with robotic arm

4. SOUNDBITE (English) Estelle Lovatt, independent art critic:

"You know what I think of the new building, and I use the word sit as well, I love the fact that as soon as you walk in you can walk up the stairs and you can also sit on them. That struck me that there's so much humour here as well. You know I love the fact that this piece here behind me, I don't know whether to laugh with it or be afraid of it but it's the interactiveness of this museum that will make it steps ahead, leap years ahead of the other museums that we go into now."

5. Mid of robotic arm

6. Tilt up of entrance to Design Museum with stairs doubling up as seats

7. Wide tilt down from concrete ceiling to museum entrance

8. Various set up shots of walking up stairs and through museum

9. SOUNDBITE (English) Deyan Sudjic, director of Design Museum:

"The design museum is here in its new home in Kensington, new home? Actually the transformation of a building from the 60s. We've moved from a charming converted banana ripening warehouse next to Tower Bridge here to this great piece of 60s architecture brought back to life. We've moved because we think design is to important to leave to the specialists, to the priesthood, we're trying to do here for contemporary design and architecture what the Tate Modern did for contemporary art. Turning something that was seen as on the margins of the wider conversation into something right at the centre. So we have three times the space, 100,000 square feet, we can offer free admission. We have a chance really to talk to a much wider audience about why design is important."

10. Mid of exhibit Room Tone that uses wearable technology to record London city life

11. Various of exhibit Fibre Market that demonstrates how wool clothes can be recycled and sorted by colour

12. Mid of neon panel reading: (English) "Love/Fear"

13. Various of exhibit looking at the Grindr ( gay social network app) phenomenon

14. Various of exhibit by Chinese fashion designer Ma Ke who uses ancient wooden looms to create the fashions

15. Pull focus from Italian Arco lamp to British wallpaper by Nina Campbell

16. Wide of the Pan European Living Room exhibit - a room furnished with designs from each of the 28 member states of the EU

17. Pan left of blinds in the colours of EU member state flags#

18. Mid of Romanian coffee pot by Ero on a coffee table

19. Various set up shots of Justin McGuirk

20. SOUNDBITE (English) Justin McGuirk, chief curator, Design Museum:

"The average European living room, or our idea of the domestic interior, is really a construct of European cooperation and collaboration, trade agreements, designers from Britain and Holland working with manufacturers in Italy and Sweden and so in some senses the idea that one can pull out of that is an illusion."

21. Wide of Pan European Living Room exhibit with photograph of Rotterdam in 1945, destroyed after World War II as a backdrop

22. Various set up shots of Alice Black

23. SOUNDBITE (English) Alice Black, deputy director of the Design Museum:

"So behind me you will see a crowdsourced wall, so what we did we asked our audiences what they wanted to see in a design museum, we sort of turned the table on them and said what do you think is good design, what in your every day design objects make a better life or a more beautiful life around you. So they sent us about 850 nominations from about 25 different countries and we selected 250 pieces that are on the wall behind me."

24. Mid of crowdsourced design wall with Underground sign in centre

25. Close of Fisher Price talking telephone

26. Pan right from violin to Game Boy and Bible

27. Various exterior shots of Design Museum

LEAD IN:

Designs inspired by the London Underground and Brexit are now on show in the new-look Design Museum in Kensington.

The new space is in a Grade-II listed piece of 1960s modernist architecture, three times larger than the Museum's previous home.

STORY-LINE:

Meet Mimus the mechanical robot who only wants to be your friend.

This 1,200kg industrial arm has been programmed to respond and interact with passersby.

Mimus is the one of the attractions in the new Design Museum in London.

Art critic Estelle Lovatt is one of the first people to get a look around the museum

"You know what I think of the new building, and I use the word sit as well, I love the fact that as soon as you walk in you can walk up the stairs and you can also sit on them. That struck me that there's so much humour here as well. You know I love the fact that this piece here behind me, I don't know whether to laugh at it or be afraid of it but it's the interactiveness of this museum that will make it steps ahead of, leap years ahead of the other museums that we go into now," she says.

The Design Museum outgrew its previous home on the South Bank of the Thames and has moved into Kensington, a district well-known for its important museums, including the Natural History Museum, the Science Museum and the Victoria and Albert Museum.

The new building occupies a Grade-II listed modernist site created in the 1960s for the Commonwealth Institute.

The restoration of the empty building took five years and required an £83 million investment.

Museum director Deyan Sudjic explains the importance of the move.

He says: "The design museum is here in its new home in Kensington, new home? Actually the transformation of a building from the 60s. We've moved from a charming converted banana ripening warehouse next to Tower Bridge here to this great piece of 60s architecture brought back to life. We've moved because we think design is to important to leave to the specialists, to the priesthood, we're trying to do here for contemporary design and architecture what the Tate Modern did for contemporary art. Turning something that was seen as on the margins of the wider conversation into something right at the centre. So we have three times the space, 100,000 square feet, we can offer free admission. We have a chance really to talk to a much wider audience why design is important."

The Design Museum opens with a striking exhibition called Fear and Love, which challenged 11 designers to react to a wide range of issues that affect the modern world.

Dutch designer Christien Meinderstma's installation Fibre Market explores the possibility of recycling our clothes and sorting them into their constituent parts.

The work displays mounds of brightly coloured wools.

A New York architect has created a space that looks at how social networking is affecting our pursuit of sex.

His work explores the phenomenon of the gay networking site Grindr.

One of the most topical works in the exhibition is Pan European Living Room.

In post-Brexit Britain the piece looks at how our interior design is so closely connected across Europe.

It takes a typical living room and furnishes it with furniture, wallpaper and designs from the 28 EU member states.

Justin McGuirk, chief curator at the Design Museum, says: "The average European living room, or our idea of the domestic interior, is really a construct of European cooperation and collaboration, trade agreements, designers from Britain and Holland working with manufacturers in Italy and Sweden and so in some senses the idea that one can pull out of that is an illusion."

The centre-piece of the room is a vertical blind featuring a barcode design of the EU member states' flags.

When the blind opens it reveals a vista of the shattered city of Rotterdam in 1945 at the end of World War II - a stark reminder of what can happen when European countries stop cooperating.

The Design Museum's deputy director Alice Black wants people to feel that they are involved in the evolving story of design.

She created a crowd-sourced feature asking people to nominate items in their everyday lives.

Black explains: "So behind me you will see a crowd-sourced wall, so what we did we asked our audiences what they wanted to see in a design museum, we sort of turned the table on them and said what do you think is good design, what in your every day design objects make a better life or a more beautiful life around you. So they sent us about 850 nominations from about 25 different countries and we selected 250 pieces that are on the wall behind me."

There surely can't be many museums where a Fisher Price talking telephone, a Nintendo Gameboy and the Holy Bible all share the same wall space.

The new Design Museum is expected to attract up to 650,000 visitors in its first year and is free to enter, for the first time.

London, UK - 17 November 2016

1. Wide of robotic arm

2. Close of same

3. Various set up shots of Estelle Lovatt taking selfie with robotic arm

4. SOUNDBITE (English) Estelle Lovatt, independent art critic:

"You know what I think of the new building, and I use the word sit as well, I love the fact that as soon as you walk in you can walk up the stairs and you can also sit on them. That struck me that there's so much humour here as well. You know I love the fact that this piece here behind me, I don't know whether to laugh with it or be afraid of it but it's the interactiveness of this museum that will make it steps ahead, leap years ahead of the other museums that we go into now."

5. Mid of robotic arm

6. Tilt up of entrance to Design Museum with stairs doubling up as seats

7. Wide tilt down from concrete ceiling to museum entrance

8. Various set up shots of walking up stairs and through museum

9. SOUNDBITE (English) Deyan Sudjic, director of Design Museum:

"The design museum is here in its new home in Kensington, new home? Actually the transformation of a building from the 60s. We've moved from a charming converted banana ripening warehouse next to Tower Bridge here to this great piece of 60s architecture brought back to life. We've moved because we think design is to important to leave to the specialists, to the priesthood, we're trying to do here for contemporary design and architecture what the Tate Modern did for contemporary art. Turning something that was seen as on the margins of the wider conversation into something right at the centre. So we have three times the space, 100,000 square feet, we can offer free admission. We have a chance really to talk to a much wider audience about why design is important."

10. Mid of exhibit Room Tone that uses wearable technology to record London city life

11. Various of exhibit Fibre Market that demonstrates how wool clothes can be recycled and sorted by colour

12. Mid of neon panel reading: (English) "Love/Fear"

13. Various of exhibit looking at the Grindr ( gay social network app) phenomenon

14. Various of exhibit by Chinese fashion designer Ma Ke who uses ancient wooden looms to create the fashions

15. Pull focus from Italian Arco lamp to British wallpaper by Nina Campbell

16. Wide of the Pan European Living Room exhibit - a room furnished with designs from each of the 28 member states of the EU

17. Pan left of blinds in the colours of EU member state flags#

18. Mid of Romanian coffee pot by Ero on a coffee table

19. Various set up shots of Justin McGuirk

20. SOUNDBITE (English) Justin McGuirk, chief curator, Design Museum:

"The average European living room, or our idea of the domestic interior, is really a construct of European cooperation and collaboration, trade agreements, designers from Britain and Holland working with manufacturers in Italy and Sweden and so in some senses the idea that one can pull out of that is an illusion."

21. Wide of Pan European Living Room exhibit with photograph of Rotterdam in 1945, destroyed after World War II as a backdrop

22. Various set up shots of Alice Black

23. SOUNDBITE (English) Alice Black, deputy director of the Design Museum:

"So behind me you will see a crowdsourced wall, so what we did we asked our audiences what they wanted to see in a design museum, we sort of turned the table on them and said what do you think is good design, what in your every day design objects make a better life or a more beautiful life around you. So they sent us about 850 nominations from about 25 different countries and we selected 250 pieces that are on the wall behind me."

24. Mid of crowdsourced design wall with Underground sign in centre

25. Close of Fisher Price talking telephone

26. Pan right from violin to Game Boy and Bible

27. Various exterior shots of Design Museum