Frank Gehry centered the Panama City’s Biodiversity Museum on a public open-air atrium covered by a sequence of multicolored metal canopies, each folded and staggered to evoke Panama’s local vernacular of tin roofs and colorful facades. The origami-like roofs also help protect the interior from the region’s wet-season downpour and wind gusts. A museum store, cafe, and a temporary exhibition space branch out from the central atrium.

Roof Designs