Ralph Applebaum Associates

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Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum

Nashville, Tennessee

Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum
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The Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum is the world’s largest museum and research center dedicated to the preservation and interpretation of American vernacular music.

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Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum_4

RAA was asked to design the permanent exhibition for the institution. For inspiration, we looked at a variety of evocative elements, including country songs, general stores, classic cars, prisons, grain silos, and water towers. These were, in some cases, incorporated directly into the design—such as the Hall of Fame’s Rotunda, which was inspired by a grain silo. The signature “radio tower,” which projects from the museum’s top, resembles the WSM radio tower in tribute to the station that launched the one and only Grand Ole Opry.

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Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum_8

We sought to reflect the themes of home, hearth, family, and storytelling throughout the Hall of Fame and Museum with tableaus of costumes, artifacts, musical instruments, and musical scores. These, along with photographs, original recordings, archival video, films, touch-screen interactives, and audio programs provide multiple points of access to the collection.

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In addition to the Hall of Fame, Museum, and Archive, a performance space and recording studios convey the institution’s dual role: chronicler of country music’s advance and keeper of its origins.

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The institution offers visitors and scholars alike a comprehensive view of the personalities and collections that have made this Nashville’s premier tourist destination.

Size 25,000 square feet

Year 2001

Architect Tuck Hinton Architects

Project Details

Exhibition FabricationMaltbie Associates

Film and A/V ProducersAustin City Limits; The Collective; The Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum; Gaylord Entertainment; GoldPitt Productions; Greystone Communications

Acoustic DesignJaffe Holden Acoustics, Inc.

Lighting DesignH.M. Brandston & Partners

Interactive Software DesignNew Media Directions (now Anode)

Audio Visual EngineeringElectrosonic Systems, Inc.

Structural EngineeringOve Arup

MEP EngineeringI.C. Thomasson Associates

AwardsCommunication Arts Design Award: Award of Excellence, Environmental

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