Designed by Richard Meier Museum of Applied Art Frankfurt ( Museum für angewandte Kunst Frankfurt ) is a must visit of anyone interested in Product Design and Art being applied in everyday life.
The museums’s history began in 1877 with the founding of the Central German Kunstgewerbeverein by Frankfurt citizens. The original collection was established in 1885. In 1921 the museum was changed to a Museum for Arts and Crafts. Word War II didn’t spare the building. Frankfurt being the head quarter of German Army, it saw extensive destruction of the city and almost all prominent buildings. Only in 1965 part of the collection was shown to the public again.
The current collections embrace 5,000 years of the history of different cultures and include European handcrafts from the 12th to the 21st century, design, book art, graphics, Islamic art, as well as art and handcrafts from East Asia. The works are distinguished by unique aesthetics and technically masterful use of material.
Richard Meier oriented in the design of the building to the specifications of the villa, which was involved meaningfully in the new museum complex. The floor plan runs off the extension of a square grid, whose 16 equal squares correspond to the layout of the villa.
Visitors are first greeted through a generous, bright foyer from which each floor can be reached from a double-flight ramp. Due to its almost fully glazed exterior walls, visitors are granted views of Frankfurt’s city center and the Villa Metzler opposite. White plastered walls, light wood floor and through the window coming from the side, natural light show the design of the interiors. The bright, near-neutral exhibition spaces create a peaceful environment, where the exhibits are in the foreground. Light flows through the spacious rooms of the modern Richard Meier building, which invites visitors to interact and communicate.
AG Studio 