Perot Museum of Nature and Science

Science literacy has become an essential criterion for participating in public dialogue. At the same time, public education faces mounting funding and resource crises; especially at the elementary level, schools are increasingly relying on museums and outside programming to supplement inadequate science curricula. The Perot Museum of Nature and Science embraces its role as an educational resource for the Dallas area, engaging a broad audience with multi-sensory, immersive learning environments.

The Perot Museum of Nature and Science creates a distinct identity for the new institution and enriches the urban environment of the emerging cultural district of Victory Park. The overall massing for the building floats a cube of galleries above a thickened landscape containing classrooms, a theater, and support spaces. Breaking the solid geometry of the museum cube, a glass-encased 54 foot continuous flow escalator moves patrons up from the ground floor to a cantilevered platform offering expansive views of downtown Dallas. Visitors spiral downward through the galleries and atrium space, continuously returning back to the city as a means of orientation and pause between exhibits.

Rejecting the notion of museum architecture as a neutral background for exhibits, the building itself is designed to be a didactic tool for demonstrating scientific principles at work. As an institution aimed at enhancing the public understanding of natural systems, addressing and exemplifying environmental responsibility was a critical aspect of this goal. Various strategies are used throughout to inspire learning and comprehension, including revealing the building structure and mechanical systems, fore-fronting energy-saving and water-reuse technologies, and integrating native Texan ecologies into the landscaping. Evoking geologic striations, the precast concrete facade utilized an innovative mold technique to create intricate wave forms using a minimum amount of panel types.