Triennale Design Museum

Located within the Palazzo d'Arte, noteable from the outside for the tall, minimal arches that marked the fascist period of design, this superb museum is a necessary visit to understand the history of Italian design, architecture, urban planning, and media arts. The spacious open-plan showroom displays everything from Olivetti typewriters to Fornasetti graphics, and insightfully delineates the relationship between art and industry that is central to the country's vibrant creative sensibility. At least two large-scale design-themed temporary exhibitions are hosted here at any one time. Next to the impressive ground-floor bookshop, the DESIGN café serves up coffee and baked sweets to an artsy crowd perched on a collection of mismatched designer chairs.