The Museum of Pop Culture — MoPOP, formerly the Experience Music Project — is housed in one of Frank Gehry's most exuberant buildings: a swooping, multicoloured structure of stainless steel and painted aluminium that was designed, Gehry said, by smashing several Stratocaster guitars and rearranging the shards. It sits at the foot of the Space Needle in Seattle Center.
Inside, the permanent collection covers rock and pop music with unusual seriousness — guitars, costumes, recording equipment, and handwritten lyrics from Jimi Hendrix (a Seattle native), Kurt Cobain, and Bruce Springsteen. There are also substantial galleries on science fiction and fantasy, with original props from films and television series. The Sound Lab lets visitors play instruments in semi-private booths. Skip the blockbuster travelling exhibitions and focus on the permanent galleries, which are exceptional.