Coloured roofs
Striking architecture.
user:ArnoldReinhold — CC BY-SA 4.0 · F Delventhal — CC BY 2.0 · Editorpana — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Bärbel Miemietz — CC BY-SA 4.0
A museum of Panama's natural history in a striking building of interlocking coloured metal roofs in red, blue, yellow and green, designed by the famous architect Frank Gehry, his first design in Latin America, opened on 2 October 2014 on the Amador Causeway. The museum tells an amazing story: how the Isthmus of Panama rose from the seabed a few million years ago, joining North and South America and separating the oceans, so the continents swapped animals in a great migration and ocean currents and world climate changed. The halls show huge sculptures of extinct and living animals in a scene of the great interchange, two vertical aquariums comparing life in the Pacific and the Caribbean, and an immersive screen room. Around the building is a garden of native plants. The easiest way there is a taxi or a bike along the Amador path. The building looks best from outside just before sunset. It is hot and humid all year, with heavy afternoon rain from May to November, so carry water and an umbrella.
Striking architecture.
Animal sculptures.
Two oceans.
Amador Causeway, at the Pacific entrance to the Panama Canal
How the Isthmus of Panama formed, joining continents and splitting oceans, and its effect on wildlife and climate, in a Gehry building.