The Museum Angewandte Kunst — Museum of Applied Art — is housed in a striking 1985 Richard Meier building on the Museumsufer, all white glass and ramps in the architect's signature high-modern style. The collection covers European decorative arts from the Middle Ages onwards, an Islamic art holding of more than 6,000 ceramics, glass and metalwork, and a serious Asian art collection that includes Tang and Song ceramics and Japanese lacquer.
The museum's curatorial style is more theme-driven than chronological, with frequent reinstallations that mix periods and continents. The contemporary design wing — chairs, lamps, posters, graphic design from Bauhaus to the present — tends to be the best-attended part of the building. The garden behind, between the museum and the Schaumainkai, is a quiet spot for a coffee. Tuesday to Sunday 10am to 6pm; Wednesdays until 8pm.