Designed by the Pritzker Prize-winner Thom Mayne, the still-a-building Perot Museum of Nature & Science was one of 47 new buildings selected (out of more than a thousand projects submitted) for the American Architecture Awards. The selection was made by a juried panel in Istanbul for the  Chicago Athenaeum: Museum of Architecture and the European Centre for Architecture, Art, Design and Urban Studies. Their designs will be featured in a traveling exhibition.

Other area winners include the Sustainable Urban Living plan for downtown Dallas, the Lost Pines Chapel in Bastrop, Texas, and the Elements Restaurant at Chesapeake in Oklahoma City. The Perot Museum was actually one of two winners for Morphosis, Mayne’s design firm. The other was 41 Cooper Square in New York City.

The full release follows:

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

PEROT MUSEUM OF NATURE & SCIENCE WINS NATIONAL ARCHITECTURAL AWARDS AND MAKES STEADY PROGRESS TOWARD FINAL FIFTY CAMPAIGN GOAL

Looking for a one-size-fits-all holiday gift?  Come help build a new science museum

DALLAS (December 14, 2010) – The Museum of Nature & Science is finishing 2010 with a bang, given the recent announcement of two prestigious architecture awards recognizing the bold design of new Perot Museum of Nature & Science and for having made measurable progress on the Final Fifty fundraising campaign benefiting the Victory Park facility.

Los Angeles-based Morphosis, led by 2005 Pritzker Prize Laureate Thom Mayne, recently received an American Architecture Award for their design of the Perot Museum of Nature & Science.  Given by the Chicago Athenaeum: Museum of Architecture and the European Centre for Architecture, Art, Design and Urban Studies, the American Architecture Awards are the highest and most distinguished building awards in the United States that honor new and cutting-edge design. This year the Chicago Athenaeum received over 1,000 projects for consideration from firms across the United States, of which only 47 were selected for awards by the juried panel held in Istanbul. The winning submissions will be featured in a traveling exhibition to Madrid, Chicago and Istanbul over the next year.  In addition, the American Institute of Architects (AIA) Los Angeles awarded Mayne and Morphosis a Citation Award in the NEXT LA category, which honors unbuilt work.

“We’re thrilled that the national architecture community recognizes the stunning design created by Thom Mayne and his team at Morphosis,” said Nicole Small, CEO of the Museum of Nature & Science.  “We’re a little over two years away from opening the Perot Museum of Nature & Science and these kinds of accolades just keep the momentum going.”

Since its September announcement to raise the remaining $50 million of the $185 million project goal, campaign chair Forrest Hoglund and his committee have stayed busy collecting numerous new gifts.  Pioneer Natural Resources kicked off the Final Fifty effort in September with a $1 million gift and The Harold Simmons Foundation quickly followed with another $1 million donation.  Other new gifts include $500,000 from the Hoblitzelle Foundation; $250,000 from the McManemin Family Fund of Communities Foundation of Texas – Megan and Casey McManemin; $100,000 contributions from the Richard D. Bass Foundation, The Dallas Foundation and Green Mountain Energy Company; and $250,000 from various other donors.  To date, approximately $138 million has been raised.  The Museum hopes to close out the Final Fifty campaign in 2011.

“We’re thrilled to get the big gifts, but science museums across the world are ‘people’s museums’ that appeal to everyone from all ages and backgrounds,” said Hoglund. “So we want everyone to know they too can help build this museum, whether they’ve got five dollars or five million dollars to give.  Every gift counts and will be appreciated.”

The Perot Museum of Nature & Science is being built on a 4.7-acre site at 1155 Broom St. in Dallas, adjacent to Victory Park.  Located north of Downtown Dallas at the northwest corner of Woodall Rodgers and Field Street, the structure will be 170 feet tall, equivalent to approximately 14 stories high.  The facility’s interior will include five floors of public space featuring 10 permanent exhibition halls, including a children’s museum and outdoor playspace/courtyard; an expansive glass-enclosed lobby and adjacent outdoor terrace with a downtown view; state-of-the art exhibition hall designed to host world-class traveling exhibitions; an education wing equipped with six learning labs; a large-format, multi-media digital cinema with seating for 300; flexible-space auditorium; public café; retail store; visible exhibit workshops; and offices.  Lastly, the building itself will be used as a “living” example of engineering, sustainability and technology at work.

To donate to the Expansion Campaign, please call Mary Crain at 972-201-0555 or email her at [email protected].  To learn more about the Museum of Nature & Science and the expansion campaign, please go to www.natureandscience.org.

About the Museum of Nature & Science
The Museum of Nature & Science – the result of a unique merger in 2006 between the Dallas Museum of Natural History, The Science Place and the Dallas Children’s Museum – is an AAM-accredited non-profit educational organization located in Dallas’s Fair Park. In support of its mission to inspire minds through nature and science, the museum delivers exciting, engaging and innovative visitor experiences through its education, exhibition, and research and collections programming for children, students, teachers, families and life-long learners. The facility also includes the TI Founders IMAX® Theater and a cutting-edge digital planetarium. The Museum of Nature & Science is supported in part by funds from the City of Dallas Office of Cultural Affairs, the Texas Commission on the Arts and HP. The Museum of Nature & Science also is building a new $185-million museum on a 4.7-acre site in Victory Park to complement the Fair Park facilities. To learn more about the Museum of Nature & Science, please visit natureandscience.org.