Rock and Roll Hall of Fame

The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Foundation came into being in 1983, from an idea of Ahmet Ertegun, founder of Atlantic Records. After a competition between several cities, it chose Cleveland in May 1986. For the building it ruled out reusing an old one and, at the urging of the architect I. M. Pei, whom it had hired although he publicly admitted he knew little about rock music, opted for a "signature building".

Pei's first design, an 18-storey glass tower beside the Cuyahoga River linked to the Tower City complex, was abandoned: in 1990 the Foundation turned to a city-owned site at North Coast Harbor, between the East 9th Street pier and Cleveland Municipal Stadium. On that site the glass tower, too tall for a location so close to Burke Lakefront Airport, gave way to a shorter tower and a glass pyramid, recalling the inclined glass wall of his design for the Louvre. The construction cost had meanwhile reached $100 million, four times the original budget.

The groundbreaking took place on June 7, 1993; a year later the building received its last steel beam. The museum opened its doors on September 2, 1995, over the Labor Day weekend.

The glass-faced main building looks toward the downtown skyline. Its pyramid shape evokes a guitar neck rising to the sky, and the entrance plaza a turntable. The whole, by Pei Cobb Freed & Partners with Leslie E. Robertson Associates as structural engineer, combines geometric forms and cantilevered spaces.

A tower carries a two-triangle glass "tent", spanning about 80 m, which spreads at its base onto a 6,000 m² plaza forming the entrance facade. On the lake side the tower meets the water: concrete caps poured over steel piles reach down to bedrock. A 125-seat theatre juts out from the tower, cantilevered some 20 m and about 18 m above Lake Erie.

The museum tells the history of rock and honours the artists inducted into the Hall of Fame. On level 0, underground, the main exhibit hall follows rock from its earliest artists to today's musicians. On level 3, the Signature Gallery lets visitors find every inductee, and the Power of Rock Experience, a show directed by Jonathan Demme, evokes an induction night. Level 1 holds a café, a store and a stage for concerts and events.

The museum is open every day: 10 am to 5 pm from September to June, with late opening until 9 pm on Thursdays; in July and August, 10 am to 5 pm from Sunday to Wednesday and 10 am to 8 pm from Thursday to Saturday. It is closed on Thanksgiving and Christmas.

Tickets are bought online for a day and an arrival time; buying on the morning of the visit is still possible, subject to availability. Admission is free for children aged 5 and under. Plan on two and a half to three hours at least. Photos and videos are allowed without flash, except in the Connor Theater and near exhibits marked "No Photography". An adult must accompany children aged 13 and under.

Paid meters and car parks surround the museum; it does not validate parking.