The Boss Goes All-In on Wood

A new museum dedicated to rock superstar Bruce Springsteen will feature mass timber construction prominently.

He’s more accustomed to fine wooden guitars, but Bruce Springsteen’s new legacy museum housing his archives will be a mass timber building which will feature some of its structure left exposed at the ceiling and in the supporting columns. It will be entered through a prominent wooden stairway as its centerpiece.

The Bruce Springsteen Archives and Center for American Music, located at Monmouth University in New Jersey not too far away from his roots in Asbury Park and the “Jersey Shore,” will “celebrate the life, legacy, and art of Bruce Springsteen within the broader history of American Music.”

Designed by CookFox Architects the museum will feature a wooden walkway leading to the building’s entry and into a double-height entry hall. A performance theatre and galleries will be located on either end, with additional galleries on the floor below. Springsteen’s archives will be housed on the second floor.

The architects said they pulled from New Jersey’s industrial history for the design of the building, as well as Springsteen’s “storytelling.”

“Storytelling, perhaps the motivation for Springsteen’s career as well as the formation of his archives, can also be experienced through the built environment,” they said.

The archive collection contains nearly 35,000 items from 47 countries including vinyl records, textiles, DVDs, promotional materials and more related to Springsteen.

Born to be Wood anyone?

Image: The Bruce Springsteen Archives and Center for American Music at Monmouth University

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