Museum of Applied Arts Cologne

The Museum of Applied Arts in Cologne sits inside a sharp, triangular structure built right over the medieval foundations of the Minoritenkirche. Its exterior is composed of stepped, glass-fronted concrete levels that mirror the jagged silhouette of the ruins beside it. In nineteen fifty-seven, architect Rudolf Schwarz designed this building to bridge the city's past and its postwar future. Visitors pass between these modern, terraced floors to view a collection that ranges from medieval metalwork to contemporary industrial design objects.