Frank Gehry's highly anticipated Bio Museo is set to open in Panama in 2013. The museum is currently under construction along Panama's Amador Causeway.
The mission of the museum as stated on its website is, to offer "an experience that impacts and educate about biodiversity and the emergence of the Isthmus of Panama to encourage all our citizens to know and appreciate this natural component of their identity, and generate all our visitors the need to protect its environment."
CNNGo reported that the gallery is supposed to make visitors feel as if they are in an actual jungle. Gehry was a natural choice having designed other famous architectural wonders such as the Guggenheim in Bilbao. This is Gehry's first in Latin America.
Even half a year away from being completed the structure appears in forms of green, orange, red, blue and yellow and can be attributed to his angular style so commonly seen in his other works.
The museum's website states, "Panama is the ideal place to demonstrate biodiversity. His wealth of wildlife, environmental diversity, and abundance of water combine to produce an incredible intensity in each level of the chain of life."
CNNGo reported that the museum worked with industrial designer Bruce Mau, from Toronto and Scientists from the University of Panama and the Smithsonian Institute to create the exhibits. There are eight galleries in total that have aims at educationg the public through experiences rather than just traditional museum presentations.
"In the gallery titled Panamarama, for example, visitors step into a three-level projection space and are surrounded on all sides -- ceiling to sides to floor -- by 14 different screens displaying video of scenes intended to make visitors feel they're actually deep in the Panamanian rainforest rather than just looking at it," reported CNNGo.
Construction began in 2004 and there have been delays. CNNGo reported that original projections were to open in 2009. Tour guide Margot López told CNNGo that the museum has undergone four different administrators.
This article is copyrighted by Travelers Today, the travel news leader
