DesignPanoptikum

DesignPanoptikum in Berlin-Mitte presents a unique collection of over 3,000 industrial objects, including medical devices, prosthetics, and mannequins, arranged to provoke creative interpretations.

Planning your visit

DesignPanoptikum is one of the strangest museums in Berlin, which is a competitive field. Vlad Korneev has assembled over 3,000 industrial objects — early medical devices, prosthetic limbs, surgical instruments, mannequins, optical apparatus, aviation and diving equipment, scientific instruments — and arranged them not by function or chronology but as surreal tableaux.

The intention is explicitly aesthetic rather than didactic. Objects designed for entirely practical purposes are recomposed into compositions that read as sculpture, and the effect is unsettling: a room of prosthetics and mannequin parts looks like something from a Švankmajer film.

Visits are guided by Korneev himself, who explains the objects and his thinking, which is a substantial part of the experience.

It is small, private and idiosyncratic, and it will not suit everyone.

Bookable options are guided visits. Current availability is listed below.