The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame

By Sally Bullock

Editor in Chief

ast weekend I decided to make the schlep to Cleveland and visit the hyped Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. I was expecting a huge, overpowering building devoted to the rock legends of the past and present. However, what I found was a small, setback structure on the outskirts of the city. The museum was not as impressive as I had anticipated, especially because I.M. Pei, one of the worlds most influential modern architects, built it. I was actually rather disappointed. The exterior was almost an exact replica of the pyramid building Pei constructed in the late 80's at the plaza of the Louvre. Set about 100 meters off of a deserted 'turnaround' street, the museum emerges from the ground, not in the almighty fashion of the great pyramids of the past, but in a pathetic gentle slope that is more reminiscent of a wheelchair ramp than the entrance of a building.

The building also draws references to another Pei building of the past. The white geometric forms that seem to be protruding from the central pyramid recall the Kennedy Library that Pei constructed in the late 70's. In fact, the entire structure looks almost exactly like Pei's original plan for the library; his preliminary Kennedy Library design was shot down due to its lacking style. I guess that Cleveland wasn't to picky, or perhaps the project's task force was just so excited that Pei decided to accept the commission that they didnÕt give a shit what the building looked like.

The disappointments do not stop at the front door. The interior of this museum is not much more than a high style shopping mall. Most of the exhibits are on the 'lower' level, a nice term for an underground cave. Again, like his pyramid museum, a visiter must weave through the underground exhibit areas lacking continuity and excitement. There we only so many signed guitars, sunglasses, platform shoes, and platinum albums one can look in a single day. I could only stand about an hour's worth of browsing before I decided I had to get out of the building. Fast.

Despite my disappointment in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, I do have to congratulate Pei for not taking the sickening rout of pop-culture construction. He could have very easily designed a knock off Disney temple to music. Perhaps if another architect designed the building, we would be walking into a giant guitar instead of a glass pyramid. Never the less, the site has much more potential than Pei's building gives credit. Now that I.M. Pei is getting up there in age, he probably is nearing the end of his career, and thus his creativity and his ideas were probably limited. Not to mention the fact that Pei is not a rock and roll fan in the slightest. For what ever reason, the museum is lacking the usual luster of Pei's creations. It is functional, but it does not have the eye grabbing, emotional stirring effect of the industry that it houses.