NEW OPENING
Kathleen Whyman, managing editor, Attractions Management
Visitors can see out across the city from the museum
What is the Perot Museum? The Perot Museum of Nature and Science opened in Dallas, Texas, USA, on 1st December 2012. We believe it’s the next generation of nature and science museums. Covering 11 storeys and housing 11 galleries and a 3D theatre, the building is a large cube fl oating over a plinth. It’s designed to inspire awareness of science through an immersive and interactive environment that actively engages visitors. Conceived by Thom Mayne
of Morphosis Architects in collabora- tion with Talley Associates, the plinth is landscaped with an acre of rolling roofscape comprised of rock and native drought-resistant grasses that refl ect Texas’s indigenous landscape and demonstrates a living system that will evolve naturally over time. The cube is rotated several degrees
off the city grid, so is visually arresting from a distance. The body of the cube is pierced dramatically by a 150ft (46m) glass prism encasing the building’s 54ft (16m), continuous-fl ow escalator. The building’s getting most of the
attention, but we’re an institution that’s existed for more than 75 years and we’re continuing our mission of inspir- ing minds about nature and science.
How do you achieve your mission? Anywhere you live in the world, the global challenges that are driving our health and economy, such as energy crisis, water challenges or disease, will
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Man meets nature at
the $185m Perot Museum of Nature and Science. Nicole G Small, Eugene McDermott chief executive offi cer, explains why it’s the next generation of museums
eventually be solved by science. We want to continue to engage our public by making them more science literate and encourage our children to pursue careers in maths, science, technology, science and engineering. Then they can go out there and become the next Nobel Laureate, or at least thought leaders in their fi eld, and solve many of the prob- lems that our world is currently facing. To achieve this, we’ve picked 11 gal-
leries in which to tell those stories. Woven into those stories are educa- tional opportunities for people to learn about the different areas of science. For example, instead of a physics or
maths hall, we have a Sports Hall where visitors learn about anatomy, physiol- ogy, nutrition, the human body and physics – there are so many science les- sons you can teach through sport. The Being Human Hall focuses on
biology and the technology we use to better understand the body and learn about ageing and the brain.
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The idea is that people will be
drawn into a hall, each of which has between fi ve and 10 dis- ciplines of science. It’s a more integrated sciences approach than other museums. One of the chal- lenges is to make science fun, engaging and interesting. People often think science is something that happens in a lab, but science is everywhere. We’re helping peo- ple understand that science is part of their everyday lives.
What’s the content?
The 180,000sq ft (16,720sq m) build- ing has 11 permanent halls; a gallery for temporary exhibitions; six learning lab classrooms; a 3D, high defi nition thea- tre; an auditorium; and guest amenities including a café and retail store.
How were the contents sourced? This is one of the things that we’re excited about with this new level of museum – we’ve levered content exper- tise from all sorts of people. We had help from Nobel Laureate’s, the local universities’ scientists and appropriate corporation partnerships. For example, for the Texas Instruments Engineering and Innovation Hall, we were able to source content from thought leaders in this sector and leverage that into creat- ing terrifi c exhibits.
How did you choose the design? The building is the 12th exhibit. We needed it to be a prime example of where man meets nature, so had a
AM 2 2013 ©Cybertrek 2013
PHOTOS: MARK KNIGHT PHOTOGRAPHY
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