WEISS / MANFREDI

The new museum for the Paleontological Research Institution engages the remarkable land forms of the Finger Lakes Region. The museum and the 6.2 acre site house one of the nation’s largest paleontological collections, and demonstrate the intrinsic relationships between geological events and biological evolution.

Set within the hillside and adjacent to the existing research facility, the museum is organized into two parallel and interconnected buildings - a public education wing and a new exhibition hall. Together these two structures define the edges of a new cascading plaza, extending views to Cayuga Lake. A series of sculpted landforms structure the site by concealing extensive parking, recycling ground water, and connecting interior and exterior exhibition programs.