On the occasion of the 20th anniversary of its landmark building designed by Richard Meier, the High Museum of Art is presenting “The undiscovered Richard Meier: The Architect as Designer and Artist,” an exhibition of more than 300 works revealing Meier’s range as an artist and designer. Renowned for his modernist designs, Meier has made significant contributions to architecture around the world. His best known works include The Getty Center in Los Angeles, the Museum for Applied Art in Frankfurt, the Museum of Contemporary Art in Barcelona and the High Museum of Art in Atlanta. This exhibition highlights a lesser-known side of Meier’s design talents, encompassing functional pieces of his modern design, including furniture, lamps, tableware and jewelry, as well as fine art objects of collage and sculpture.

“The Undiscovered Richard Meier: The Architect as Designer and Artist” is on view at the High Museum of Art through April 4. The High will also present a lecture by Meier, titled “The High and After the High” on Tuesday, November 18, at 7 pm, in Symphony Hall in the Memorial Arts Building adjacent to the museum.

This exhibition includes more than 100 collages and more than two dozen sculptures created by Meier from the late 1980s to 2002. The exhibition also highlights some of the architect’s notable product design work, including elegant furniture, vases, frames, flatware, silver, ceramic and crystal for companies including Alessi, Knoll, Swid Powell and Steuben.

Coinciding with “The Undiscovered Richard Meier,” this October marks the 20th anniversary of the public opening of the High’s celebrated Richard Meier-designed building. The High is renovating and upgrading the building as part of an overall expansion and facilities upgrade, which when completed in the fall of 2005, will include three new buildings designed by architect Renzo Piano. The expansion and renovation will create an enlivened, state-of-the-art campus that will meet the demands of the museum’s expanding audiences.

The High’s second, third and fourth floor galleries were recently reconfigured to more closely reflect Meier’s design, with three large galleries in the northeast, northwest and southwest corners, transition spaces between corner galleries and two atrium galleries oriented north-south and east-west. The museum will also uncover brilliant skylights on the fourth floor that were concealed shortly after the building opened in 1983.

American architect and designer Meier has been the recipient of numerous awards, including the Pritzker Prize, the AIA Medal from the American Institute of Architects and the Praemium Imperiale from the Japanese Government, in recognition of a lifetime achievement in the arts. As principal of New York-based Richard Meier & Partners, Meier’s notable projects have included the High, The Getty Center, the Museum for Applied Art in Frankfurt, the Canal Plus Television Headquarters in Paris, the Barcelona Museum of Contemporary Art, The Hartford Seminary in Connecticut and the Atheneum in New Harmony, Ind.

The High Museum of Art is at 1280 Peachtree Street, NE. For information, 404-733-4437 or www.high.org.