Frank Gehry's first building in Latin America will host grand opening on Oct. 2

Panama's Biomuseo (Museum of Biodiversity) will host its grand opening on October 2, 2014, Forbes reports.

The new museum is teeming with architect Frank Gehry's signature style of free flowing shapes, but departs from the metallic and curvy look of a classic Gehry building.

The museum is a $100 million project affiliated with the Smithsonian, the result of a collaboration between the non-profit Amador Foundation, which was established by citizens of Panama to raise awareness of the country's natural and cultural history.

The site for the project, which has views of the Bay of Panama to the north and the Panama Canal to the south, was provided by the government of Panama.

Gehry drew inspiration from the site's natural and cultural surroundings: vibrantly colored canopies reflect local Panamanian tin roofs, as well as a six-acre outdoor biodiversity park that acts as an open-air extension of the museum itself.

Gehry told Forbes: “This has been a very personal project for me. I feel close ties to the people of Panama, and I believe strongly that we should all be trying to conserve biodiversity, which is threatened everywhere.”

Forbes has the full story.

All images courtesy Biomuseo. Photos: ©Fernando Alda

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