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

Pei Cobb Freed and Partners
1995




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

 


Continue to page 2.


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© 2005 Mary Ann Sullivan. I have photographed (on site), scanned, and manipulated all the images on these pages. Please feel free to use them for personal or educational purposes. They are not available for commercial purposes.

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