ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses the issue of the museum as icon through the example of those being created in Poland, Hungary, and Slovakia. In Poland particularly, the appearance of museums has become the topic of public debate, at the center of which resides the history of the construction of the Museum of Modern Art in Warsaw. The architecture of museums is of particular importance for shaping the image of cities in countries where, along with political transformation, a construction boom started in the context of residential and service buildings as well as public architecture. The architecture of museums has provided an opportunity to present the circumstances of their creation, as well as the motivations and expectations of various interest groups. I present the creation of selected museums that embody the public expectation for iconic architecture, as with the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao. I reference social debates in which various positions and visions clash. I also seek to answer the question: is a Central European Bilbao possible?
