A gold brick - the Ragnarock Rock Museum

Ragnarock in Roskilde, Denmark, is a museum of pop, rock and youth culture jointly designed by MVRDV and COBE. As a symbol of local rock music, it aims to inspire a new generation of musicians, artists and creative professionals. The 3,100-square-meter building has a large cantilever that mainly houses the museum, together with an auditorium, administrative facilities and a bar. Its golden, diamond-paved exterior is the first completed part of ROCKmagneten, an 11,000-square-meter master plan that renews a former cement plant into a cultural district for rock and youth culture, adding three new buildings: the completed Ragnarock, a new Danish folk high school and the Roskilde Rock Festival headquarters. Designed for the Danish Rock Museum, Ragnarock minimizes disruption to the existing site, preserving the rough, casual character shared by skateboarders and artists. The new structure is inserted into the existing factory buildings; visitors reach the upper museum and auditorium via four supports. Retained and new parts are clearly divided, with contrasting material combinations of bare concrete and lively red diamond texture, creating a rock-and-roll atmosphere.