ABSTRACT
This chapter analyzes a critical reassessment of that Semperian tradition through analysis of museum architecture, paying particular attention to the important studies by Rebecca Houze. Design museums also served as architectural models for each other. Once constructed, design museum buildings were attacked from several positions, one of which was architectural modernism in its various incarnations. The chapter argues that in order to understand the meaning and connotations of museum architecture for its contemporaries, their history need to be disconnected from such modernist critique. The situation highlighted that while one individual’s enthusiasm could result in the establishment of a cultural institution, the municipality’s public declarations of support for local industries and industrial design contrasted with the realities of what they were willing to contribute. Architects and discussions about architecture played an important part of the Museum for Art and Industry’s activities.
