Every year, seven to new temporary exhibitions at all three locations deal with current topics from various design genres that shape our everyday visual lives.

The Museum für Gestaltung Zürich conceives and realizes monographic and thematic temporary exhibitions as well as presentations of the collection over several years. On the occasion of the museum's 150th anniversary in 2025, the permanent exhibition will move to the Toni-Areal site and be presented to the public in a new multi-perspective exhibition. In addition, part of the collection storage area, which is currently only accessible via guided tours, will be permanently open to visitors as a walk-in display depot.

Both contemporary and historical content will be questioned, reflected upon and presented. In addition to exhibitions that primarily contribute to the specialist discourse or serve the ZHdK's performance mandate, the exhibition program includes projects that are designed to have a greater impact on the public.

In addition, regular smaller productions and interventions at the three main locations and temporary external locations tell of designed things and the handling of images or personalities from the field of design.

Each theme places its own demands on the exhibition design. Varied stagings make the objects speak and are evidence of a reflective and pleasurable approach to the exhibition medium. The museum's own workshop plays a central role in this.

In line with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, the museum cultivates an operational culture of sustainability. In addition, the museum's activities contribute to convincing and inspiring the public to support sustainable ecological, social and economic change in society. The resources used to operate the museum are constantly scrutinized and minimized where possible. Employees are made aware of the issue and all department heads are encouraged to constantly review and optimize operational processes. There is also a working group that is involved in and provides further training in the area of environmental sustainability across departments. This is done in consultation with and in support of the ZHdK sustainability officer.

Exhibitions with a focus on sustainability are regularly scheduled by the program committee. Recently, the exhibitions "Plant Fever", "Formafantasma Cambio" (2022) and "Repair Revolution!" (2023) were shown.

In 2023, the Museum für Gestaltung Zürich was one of the first Swiss museums to examine the carbon footprint of two very different exhibitions and then compare them. The findings were used to evaluate areas for action and decide on further measures. The museum is part of the Happy Museums network and the Museum Climate Platform.

The rich exhibition history of the Museum für Gestaltung Zürich is documented on an ongoing basis.

Past exhibitions and projects can be found online in the exhibition archive on eMuseum.ch, which goes back to the beginnings of the Museum für Gestaltung Zürich at the end of the 19th century.

It includes the exhibitions realized by the Museum für Gestaltung Zürich (formerly Kunstgewerbemuseum Zürich), the Museum Bellerive (1968-2017) and the Pavillon Le Corbusier (from 2019).