Thom Mayne’s Perot Museum of Nature and Science Nears Completion in Dallas

In one month, Dallas' newest architectural icon will open its doors. The <a href="http://www.perotmuseum.org/">Perot Museum of Nature and Science</a>, designed by <a href="http://inhabitat.com/tag/thom-mayne/">Thom Mayne</a> of <a href="http://www.morphosis.com/">Morphosis Architects</a>, is a bold new building that reflects the earth's stratified, geological forms. The exterior of the building features innovative textures, while the interior exhibit spaces focus on natural, biological, chemical and physical sciences. The Perot is a building that has something to say about the intersection of nature and technology, instead of merely existing as a blank backdrop for the exhibits inside.

As visitors approach the new Perot Museum on opening day next month, they'll be struck by the building's dynamic facade.

With its undulating, geologic patterning, it's almost as if the cube-shaped form was lifted directly out of the earth.

The outer skin of the 170-foot-tall museum is sheathed in more than 650 textured precast concrete panels, giving the building a unique graphic aesthetic.

The concrete used on the exterior panels weighs in at over 4 million pounds.

Inside, the curved concrete paneling continues, carrying the lines from the facade to every floor.

Inside, visitors will step into the grand lobby, which features a Malawisaurus skeleton and an interactive 'dancing water' molecules display that is motion activated.

The lines create visual interest, and when the sun hits the building's different textures, it takes on different shapes.

The building is a testament to recent advances in 3D modeling.

One of the most impressive features of the building is the <a href="http://www.perotmuseum.org/explore-the-museum/the-theater/index.html">The Hoglund Foundation Theater</a>, which is located on the first floor.

The 300-seat theater features richly textured walls that are lit with LED lights and a state-of-the-art 4K digital projection system.

From the lobby, visitors can board a 54-foot continuous escalator, which is located in a long glass enclosure.

One of the most interesting features of the building is the roof -- instead of a traditional green roof, the Perot Museum features a hardscape of stones and drought-tolerant plants that are meant to reflect the Texas ecology.

To create the unique concrete panels, several different rubber molds were used, which could be moved around to make different patterns.

The escalators only go up in the Perot Museum, and visitors are expected to take the stairs to go down.

The standardized, modular system helped to keep costs down and to keep construction moving forward (the entire budget for the building was $185).

Although it's as tall as a typical 14-story building, the Perot Museum only contains 5 floors, because the ceilings had to be tall enough to accommodate dinosaur fossils and other large exhibits.

The building is located on 4.7 acres of former brownfield, and it's aiming for three environmental certifications -- LEED, Sustainable Sites Initiative and Green Globes.

With exhibits ranging from dinosaurs to gems and minerals and renewable energy, the museum should appeal to visitors of all ages when it opens its doors on December 1.

Architect Thom Mayne has described the new Perot Museum as a "living educational tool featuring architecture inspired by nature and science," and indeed it is.

LEDs are used throughout the building, as well as natural daylighting, to reduce energy costs.