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Sumit Singhal
Sumit Singhal loves modern architecture. He comes from a family of builders who have built more than 20 projects in the last ten years near Delhi in India. He has recently started writing about the architectural projects that catch his imagination. Biomuseo in Panama by Frank GehryOctober 17th, 2014 by Sumit Singhal
Article source: Frank Gehry Created in one of the most biodiverse places in the world, with content developed by scientists at the University of Panamá and the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, the Biomuseo will celebrate the public opening of its completed building by Frank Gehry on October 2, 2014. The 44,132-square-foot (4,100-square-meter) building is the world-renowned architect’s first project in Latin America.  Image Courtesy © Fernando Alda
 Image Courtesy © Fernando Alda
 Image Courtesy © Fernando Alda Offering views of the Bay of Panamá to the north and of the Pacific Ocean entrance to the Panama Canal to the south, the vibrantly multi-colored building was conceived by Gehry to house a sequence of permanent exhibitions by Bruce Mau Design and to open into a 6-acre (2.4-hectare) Biodiversity Park, both of which were designed in collaboration with the architect. As an ensemble, the building, exhibitions and park provide a major new civic and educational resource for the people of Panamá and an inspiring cultural destination for visitors from around 2 the world, revealing the decisive role of the isthmus of Panamá—the “bridge of life”—in 3 million years of geological change and biological evolution.  Image Courtesy © Fernando Alda “The formation of the isthmus created a barrier between the Pacific and Atlantic oceans, causing the two regions to evolve ecologically in strikingly different directions,” explains Dr. Anthony Coates, a scientific advisor to the Biomuseo and a founding member of the Panamá Geology Project of the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute. Among the results were climate changes throughout the world (including west Africa, where rainforests became savannahs, forcing many tree-dwelling primates to live on the ground); a vast interchange of plants and animals back and forth between North and South America; and the formation of the path that allowed the earliest humans to migrate across the frozen Bering Strait and down into South America.  Image Courtesy © Fernando Alda The Biomuseo, a Smithsonian affiliated museum, has been developed through a collaboration between the non-profit Amador Foundation, established by private citizens of Panamá to raise awareness of the country’s natural and cultural history and encourage preservation of its extraordinary biodiversity, and the Government of Panamá, which contributed the site for the project and adjacent revenue-producing properties. A ceremonial dedication of the Biomuseo, attended by Panamá’s President Juan Carlos Varela, will be held on September 30, preceding the public opening of the completed building and the bulk of its permanent exhibits. Biomuseo will welcome visitors, including a large audience of school groups, while it completes a final three exhibits and the Biodiversity Park.  Image Courtesy © Fernando Alda María del Pilar Arosemena de Alemán, President of the Amador Foundation, stated, “Our organization was founded to be an agent of change for Panamá, moving citizens to be proud of their country’s natural history and to take part in preserving it. We also saw the opportunity for Panamá to take its rightful place as a global center for exploring and conserving biodiversity. With the completion of the Biomuseo, we advance a giant step toward our goal.”  Image Courtesy © Fernando Alda Victor Cucalón Imbert, Director of the Biomuseo, stated, “We are deeply grateful to Frank Gehry and his collaborator in design, Bruce Mau, for giving us a museum that so beautifully and effectively expresses the mission of Biomuseo. Thanks to this extraordinary project, we know that Biomuseo can become a cultural and eco-tourism destination, as well as a symbol of global concern for the environment and for conservation, enabling us to send our message throughout the world.”  Image Courtesy © Fernando Alda Frank Gehry stated, “This has been a very personal project for me. I feel close ties to the people of Panamá, and I believe strongly that we should all be trying to conserve biodiversity, which is threatened everywhere. I hope that the design by our team at Gehry Partners, and by my friend 3and colleague Bruce Mau, will make a real contribution toward the success of the important work of the Biomuseo.” Mr. Gehry has expressed his pleasure about the progress of the Biomuseo, but will not be able to attend the opening of the building, due to a scheduling conflict. He has stated that he looks forward to seeing the finished exhibition galleries in the months ahead.  Image Courtesy © Fernando Alda Designing the Biomuseo Surrounding the open, civic space of the central atrium are a museum store, a café and a temporary exhibition space. An unticketed outdoor exhibition space located below the atrium and shielded by it connects the building’s two main exhibition wings.  Image Courtesy © Fernando Alda The main permanent exhibition, titled Panamá: Bridge of Life, tells its story through displays and “devices of wonder” in eight galleries, five of which will be fully installed at the time of the opening: • Gallery of Biodiversity: an introduction to the subject of biodiversity and the work of local scientists, featuring a stained glass wall, 46 feet (14 meters) long and 26 feet (8 meters) high, with images of the country’s plants and animals • Panamarama: a three-height space where projections on ten screens plunge visitors into a visual and acoustic experience of Panamá’s natural wonders • Building the Bridge: an installation that includes three 46-foot-high (14-meter) rock-like formations, illustrating the emergence of the isthmus and its effect on climate and evolution • Worlds Collide: a gallery featuring two sculptural groups of animal, representing the megafauna that were a part of the great exchange of species that took place between North and South America after they were joined by the isthmus of Panamá after 70 million years of separation • The Human Path: a partially open-air gallery where sixteen columns provide information on the relationship between human activity and Panamá’s environment, from 15,000 years ago to the present. • Oceans Divided: a gallery where two 33-foot-high (10-meter) semi-cylindrical aquariums will show how the Pacific and the Caribbean evolved in drastically different ways after being separated by the isthmus • The Living Web: a dramatic illustration of the complex network of interdependency among all living things, to be shown by a monumental sculpture with a form that merges plants, animals and microorganisms • Panamá is the Museum: a gallery that will serve as the interface between the interior spaces of the Biomuseo and the Biodiversity Park, to help send visitors onto their real journey through the biodiversity of Panamá  Image Courtesy © Fernando Alda Upon leaving the final gallery in Panamá: Bridge of Life, visitors will find that the exhibition narrative expands into the landscape of the Biodiversity Park. Here and there around the park education stations will illustrate real-life interactions between local plant and animal species. In keeping with the civic mission of Biomuseo, the Biodiversity Park is designed as a publicly accessible space for local residents.  Image Courtesy © Fernando Alda  Image Courtesy © Frank Gehry  Image Courtesy © Frank Gehry  Image Courtesy © Frank Gehry  Image Courtesy © Frank Gehry  Image Courtesy © Frank Gehry  Image Courtesy © Frank Gehry  Image Courtesy © Frank Gehry  Image Courtesy © Frank Gehry  Image Courtesy © Frank Gehry  Image Courtesy © Frank Gehry
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Tags: Panama Categories: Building, Cultural Center, Mixed use |
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