The Rolandzek railway station was built in 1856 and soon became a popular holiday destination for the nobility and cultural elite of all of Europe. The building, reminiscent of an Italian Renaissance villa, hosted concerts and dinner parties, and was attended by Queen Victoria, Otto von Bismarck, Heinrich Heine, Franz Liszt and George Bernard Shaw. The First World War put an end to the amusement in Rolandzek, and it was not until 1964 that exhibitions and concerts were held again at the station; it quickly became the center of cultural life under its curator Johannes Wasmuth. Wasmut founded a kind of artists' commune there, which flourished until his death in 1997. There was a lull again, which ended in 2004, when the Hans Arp and Sophie Taeber-Arp Foundation, whose works from the collection were exhibited during Vasmut's life in the basement hall of the station, turned the previously restored building into the Hans Arp Museum.
But Vasmut himself also understood that 400 works from the collection of the fund would not have enough space in a 19th century building even under optimal conditions; therefore, back in the 1980s, he turned to the American architect Richard Mayer with a request to create a project for a new museum building - nearby. The implementation of this plan was hampered by various difficulties, so the construction began only in 2004, and the customer was no longer Vasmut, but the Hans Arp and Sophie Taeber-Arp Foundation.
Rolandzek station is located on the very banks of the Rhine, and behind it the walls of the river valley rise steeply. Therefore, a new building could only be erected on the top of a nearby hill. But a special problem for Mayer was the connection of the old and new buildings, since the slope between them is convenient for climbers, but not for ordinary art lovers. Mayer suggested digging a 40-meter tunnel behind the station complex, leading into the depths of the hill. From there, visitors take lifts 40 meters to the conical glass tower of the new museum, which offers panoramic views of the Rhine Valley. The principle of contrast prepares the viewer to perceive the diverse artistic heritage of the Arp couple in the bright halls of the new building. Its connection with the train station is enhanced by the division of functions: the lower building houses the foyer, ticket office, museum shop and library, while all the galleries are located upstairs. The concrete tunnel under the hill is emphatically technical and inhospitable; the only detail that revives it is the 18-meter luminous spiral of the Kaa sculpture by Barbara Trautmann.
A completely different environment awaits visitors in the upper building: its center is a spacious foyer connecting all three floors. On the lower level, in addition to the exhibition halls, there are also administrative premises and an educational center.
