Pinakothek der Moderne

This guide to the Pinakothek der Moderne in Munich starts on a bombed-out lot where Circus Roncalli pitched its tent for two decades, before tracing the site back further to the Turkenkaserne, a Bavarian army barracks flattened in the Second World War. From there it follows the 1990 decision to unite four separate collections under one roof, the blind competition among 167 architects, and Stephan Braunfels's plan for a glass rotunda and funnel-shaped staircase. Look for the single weathered stone archway standing apart from the museum as you walk in.