The newly opened Shanghai Natural History Museum, designed by global architecture and design firm Perkins+Will, is well on its way to becoming an iconic structure on the Shanghai landscape. Located downtown in a sculpture park in the Jing’an District, the 480,000-square-foot museum showcases art, culture, history, science, the environment and architecture.

Features include:

• One of the largest dinosaurs in the world, Argentinosaurus
• Exhibits ranging from the Mamenchisaurus skeleton and a conifer-cone chandelier to items from the African Savannah, Polar Regions and Tibetan Plateau
• More than 11,000 artifacts representing all seven continents
• Mobile apps linked to exhibits
• A 4D-theater
• A 323,000-square-foot sculpture park

The building and its landscape mirror Chinese cultural history and tradition, invoking a sense of harmony between humans and nature. The building rises up as a spiraling landscaped plane surrounding an oval pond and a 100-foot-tall atrium — a design inspired by the nautilus shell, one of the purest geometric forms found in nature. Other natural elements can be seen across the building’s façades:

• The central cell wall represents the cellular structure of plants and animals.
• The east living wall signifies earth’s vegetation and symbolizes the forests of China.
• The northern stone wall suggests shifting tectonic plates and canyon walls eroded by rivers.

The museum is open Tuesday-Sunday. Exhibits include descriptions in English. The museum’s inaugural exhibit, “Miracle of Life,” featuring Chinese paleontological items runs through March 31, 2017.

Check out more photos of the stunning Shanghai Museum of Natural History.