The site, on the edge of Joshua Tree National Park and the city Twentynine Palms, is a gateway from the city to nature.  This project emphasized the path taken between the two areas, allowing the visit to traverse through the land and then to rise above it and reflect back upon it.  Movement and relationship with the land was paramount in this project and is emphasized by the layout of the museum, living and research spaces.  The facility was placed in a natural depression in the land, making the path natural in it's placement, but unnatural in it's sharp void in the land.  Michael Heizer's Double Negative served as inspiration for making sculpture out of void space, consisting more of what was than what currently is.