Frank Gehry’s architectural style is nothing if not unique. Even to the untrained eye, it can be easy to spot a creation by the Canadian-American architect that are dotted around the world.

One of his buildings is MoPoP

The Museum of Pop Culture (previously called EMP Museum) in Seattle is dedicated to contemporary music & popular culture.

It was founded by Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen in 2000 as the Experience Music Project. The building is as fascinating as the subjects inside it.

It’s hard to find a straight line anywhere on the exterior. It’s very striking from the street.

The museum—which used to be known as the Experience Music Project and Science Fiction Museum and Hall of Fame (EMP|SFM) and later EMP Museum until November 2016—has founded many public programs.

You may have heard of “Sound Off!”, an annual 21-and-under battle-of-the-bands event that supports the all-ages scene; and “Pop Conference,” an annual gathering of academics, critics, musicians, and music buffs.

MoPOP is located on the campus of Seattle Center, adjacent to the Space Needle and the Seattle Center Monorail, which really runs through the building.

The structure itself was designed by Frank Gehry and resembles many of his firm’s other works, such as the Guggenheim Museum Bilbao, the Walt Disney Concert Hall in L.A., and recently Luna Tower at Arles in France.

Much of the building material is exposed in the building’s interior of 140,000 square feet (13,000 m²), with a 35,000-square-foot (3,300 m²) footprint.

The central Sky Church pays homage to local hero Jimi Hendrix and is capable of holding up to 800 guests, plus has a state-of-the-art sound and lighting system worthy of his impressive sound.

MoPOP is home to exhibits, interactive activity stations, sound sculpture, and various educational resources:

The Sky Church also features a Barco C7 black package LED screen, one of the largest indoor LED screens in the world.

Exhibits that cover pop culture, from the art of fantasy, horror cinema, and video games to science fiction literature and costumes from screen and stage.

Interactive activities are included in galleries like Sound Lab and On Stage where visitors can explore hands-on tools of rock and roll through instruments, and perform music before a virtual audience.

IF VI WAS IX, a guitar sculpture consisting of more than 500 musical instruments and 30 computers conceived by UK exhibit designer Neal Potter and developed by sound sculptor Trimpin.

The largest collection in the world of artifacts, hand-written lyrics, personal instruments, and original photographs celebrating the music and history of Seattle musicians Nirvana and Jimi Hendrix.

Educational resources include MoPOP’s Curriculum Connections in-museum workshops and outreach programs; STAR (Student Training in Artistic Reach); Creativity Camps for Kids; Teen Artist Workshops; Write Out of This World, an annual sci-fi and fantasy short story contest for 3rd to 12th graders; and the Hip-Hop Artist Residency.

Public programs include a wide variety, such as MoPOP’s Science Fiction + Fantasy Short Film Festival, Pop Conference, the Youth Advisory Board (YAB), and Sound Off! the Northwest’s premier battle-of-the-bands.

MoPOP was the site of the concert and demo program of the first NIME workshop, which subsequently became the annual International Conference on New Interfaces for Musical Expression, a leading venue for cutting edge research on music technology.

It’s certainly worth a visit when you’re in the Northwest. Here’s a good intro video from some visitors to the museum at New Years in 2018.

Source: Wikipedia, MoPop,