The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum

About

I. M. Pei admitted to knowing little about the music in question when he was chosen to design Cleveland’s Rock and Roll Hall of Fame on the shores of Lake Erie. After a bit of remedial listening, he set out to create a building that would embody rock’s brash dynamism, and came up with a seven-storey set of architectural power chords, incorporating several of his signature elements: cantilevered spaces, angular masses clad in stark white tile and a vast, pyramid-like glass atrium. It is the ideal home for the living heritage of rock and a bold showcase for a music genre that continues to impact our global culture—and a visit here guarantees a pretty entertaining afternoon as well.