Biomuseo

Biomuseo showcases Panama’s natural and cultural history, emphasizing its impact on global biodiversity. Designed by Frank Gehry, it features eight interactive galleries and a botanical garden.

Planning your visit

Panama exists because of a geological accident with global consequences. Around three million years ago the isthmus rose from the sea and joined two continents that had been separate for tens of millions of years, triggering the Great American Biotic Interchange as species moved north and south, and simultaneously severing the Atlantic and Pacific — redirecting ocean currents, altering global climate and arguably contributing to the ice ages and to the conditions in which humans evolved in Africa.

The Biomuseo tells that story. Frank Gehry designed it in crumpled, brilliantly coloured metal on the Amador Causeway at the Pacific entrance to the canal, and eight galleries cover the isthmus rising, the species exchange, Panama's extraordinary biodiversity, and human arrival.

The building is the only Gehry structure in Latin America and reads very differently against tropical light than his northern buildings do.

A botanical park surrounds it.

Bookable options include tours combining the museum with Mi Pueblito and the Amador viewpoints. Current availability is listed below.