The poster collection
A world archive reaching back to the mid-nineteenth century.
Photones — CC BY-SA 4.0 · albinfo — CC BY 4.0 · EinDao — CC BY-SA 4.0 · EinDao — CC BY-SA 4.0
Yes, if you enjoy images, advertising and everyday objects: the displays are visual rather than text-heavy, and the posters read as an illustrated history of the twentieth century — war, propaganda, cinema, tourism — with no specialist background needed. If what you want is classical painting, your museum is the Kunsthaus, not this one. The practical trick: come on a Thursday after five, when entry is free and the museum stays open until eight.
There are three, on one combined ticket: the historic building on Ausstellungsstrasse, the most important and the closest to the station; galleries in the **Toni-Areal** in Zurich West, a vast former dairy turned arts-university campus; and the **Pavillon Le Corbusier** on the lakeshore at Zürichhorn, among the last works the famous Swiss architect designed, open seasonally. If you have a single day, the main building is enough.
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One of Europe's most important museums of design and visual communication, with roots in the arts-and-crafts museum founded in Zurich in **1875**. It belongs today to the **Zurich University of the Arts (ZHdK)**, and shows in a main building that is itself a landmark: designed by Adolf Steger and Karl Egender and completed in **1933**, it counts among the purest examples of Swiss architectural modernism, is a protected monument, and reopened after restoration in spring 2018. The real strength is in the collections: **more than half a million objects** across four holdings — poster, graphics, design and applied art. The **poster collection** alone exceeds 380,000 sheets and ranks among the most comprehensive poster archives anywhere, running from the mid-nineteenth century to the present with particular weight on Switzerland, Europe, Japan and Cuba. It is here that you understand why the Swiss school of graphic design — the grid and the clean letterform — became a visual language the whole world now uses. Practically: alongside permanent displays such as the Swiss design lounge, the programme rests on **changing temporary exhibitions, five to seven a year**, so the experience varies a great deal by season — check what is on before you go. The building is five minutes on foot from Zurich main station, and it is an excellent choice on a wet day.
A world archive reaching back to the mid-nineteenth century.
Among the purest examples of Swiss architectural modernism.
Five to seven exhibitions a year — check what is on.
Ausstellungsstrasse 60, 8005 Zurich