Dezeen Magazine

Museum Reinhard Ernst by late architect Fumihiko Maki revealed in Dezeen video

Museum Reinhard Ernst​, one of the late Japanese architect Fumihiko Maki's​ final buildings, is revealed in this video produced by Dezeen for ​t​he museum.

Located in Wiesbaden, Germany, the museum takes the form of a large white granite volume, sectioned into smaller rectangular blocks.

The museum opens to the public on 23 June 2024

The 6,000-square-metre facade was given a coarse finish to enhance the granite's texture, and joints were coated with quartz sand to catch the light.

Inside the museum, exhibition spaces with green granite flooring were designed to extend continuously without interruption from structural columns.

The museum is dedicated entirely to abstract art and will showcase works from artists like Wolfgang Tillmans, Helen Frankenthaler and Katharina Grosse.

Exterior of the museum
The use of white granite references the limestone used in the surrounding neighbourhood

Museum Reinhard Ernst described the building as a Gesamtkunstwerk – a German term that translates to a "total work of art".

Maki studied the museum's collection extensively, as well as the surrounding neighbourhood, while creating the design of the structure, and art pieces are incorporated into the architecture of the space.

Commissioned glass works by artists Grosse, MadC, and Karl-Martin Hartmann will be situated in the museum's foyer, and sculptures by Spanish sculptor Eduardo Chillida will be displayed in the glazed inner courtyard.

Central courtyard of the Museum
A central courtyard allows natural light into the space

Maki, who received the Pritzker Architecture Prize in 1993 and the AIA Gold Medal in 2011, passed away on 6 June 2024.

A temporary exhibition celebrating his architecture practice will show once the building opens to the public.

The exhibition will run until 9 February 2025 and will feature models of Maki's most notable work such as the National Museum of Modern Art in Kyoto and 4 World Trade Center in New York.

Museum Reinhard Ernst opens to the public on 23 June 2024. See Dezeen Events Guide for an up-to-date list of architecture and design events taking place around the world.

Partnership content

This video was produced by Dezeen for the Museum Reinhard Ernst as part of a partnership. Find out more about Dezeen's partnership content here.