Perot Museum of Nature and Science

The Perot Museum occupies a 180,000-square-foot building designed by Thom Mayne of Morphosis Architects in downtown Dallas. The structure itself is an exhibit: a cantilevered concrete form wrapped in a glass curtain wall, sitting on a landscaped plaza that slopes visitors up to the entrance. Inside, eleven permanent exhibit halls cover dinosaurs, gems and minerals, space, engineering, human anatomy, and Texas ecosystems. The scale is large enough to fill two to three hours without feeling rushed, and the exhibit design is interactive in ways that engage adults as effectively as children.

The Tom Hunt Energy Hall uses mechanical demonstrations to explain oil and gas extraction. The Lyda Hill Gems and Minerals Hall contains specimens that would hold attention in any natural history museum in the country. The dinosaur hall centres on an Alamosaurus skeleton, one of the largest dinosaurs ever found in North America, discovered in Texas. Rotating special exhibitions and 3D films supplement the permanent collection.

What distinguishes the Perot from a standard science museum is the architectural ambition of the building and the production quality of the exhibits. Neither feels like an afterthought. The museum was built with a $185 million budget, and that investment is visible in every hall.

Know before you go

Admission is $25 for adults, $15 for youth ages 2 to 12. Special exhibitions carry an additional fee. The museum is open Monday, Wednesday through Saturday from 10am to 5pm, and Sunday from 11am to 5pm. It is closed on Tuesdays. The museum is located in downtown Dallas, approximately 35 minutes south of PGA Frisco.

What stands out

The Perot Museum succeeds as both architecture and institution. Visitors who come for the dinosaurs stay for the engineering exhibits, and the building itself rewards the kind of attention typically reserved for art museums. For a half-day away from the course, it offers the most intellectually engaging experience in the DFW metro.