Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum--page 1 (or two pages)

After a poll in 1986 ranked Cleveland as first in the selection for a rock and roll hall of fame museum and after Foundation members visited various potential sites, Cleveland was chosen as the site for the museum. About a year later I. M. Pei, who confessed to lacking knowledge of rock and roll, was chosen to design the building. After some study of the genre, he envisioned the building's form as being symbolic--as suggesting the energy and dynamism of rock and roll. Still, he uses some of his signature forms, in particular the pyramid (see the Louvre's entrance), dramatic angular planes, cantilevered spaces, and stark white cladding. Eventually the building was sited on the shore of Lake Erie and became crucial in the development of Cleveland's renewed waterfront area.
		Views from the left--off center
The entrance The huge glass pyramid admits light and gives a striking focus to the front of the museum.
Views from the rear--from the lakeside looking back

For other works by Pei on this site, see the Index.

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