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EXPERIENCE MUSIC
PROJECT (EMP)
Seattle 19952000
Experience Music Project (EMP) derives its name from
the Jimi Hendrix Experience. The client approached
Gehry to design a "swoopy" building dedicated to the
celebration of popular music. The architect captures
the vibrancy of the subject while also reflecting the
cacophony of the Seattle Center and the neighboring
amusement park. Like Gehry's Aerospace Hall
(198284) in Los Angeles, which is also located
in an exposition park, EMP's exteriorwith its
exuberant forms and vibrant colorscommunicates
the program of the exhibitions inside. An existing
monorail that sweeps through the building to the
Seattle Center enhances the sense of movement that
has long been a hallmark of Gehry's work.
The curved forms were sparked by the client's
admiration for the horse-head shaped conference
center at the DG Bank Building (19952001) in
Berlin, and grew out of the architect's experiments
with broken guitar pieces. The allusion to a
shattered Fender Stratocaster is carried through in a
glass sculpture that rides the crest of the building,
suggesting the strings and frets of a guitar neck as
well as the roller coaster nearby. The colorsa
riot of gold, pale blue, purple, red, and
silverare symbolic references to various songs
and events from the history of rock and roll,
including Hendrix's song "Purple Haze." The vibrant
exterior is clad in some 21,000 pieces of stainless
steel and aluminum whose outlines and random
configurations are computer generated.
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