Natural History Museum of Utah

The Natural History Museum of Utah is easily recognized by its exterior, which is wrapped in forty-two thousand square feet of copper paneling arranged in horizontal bands. These strips of copper, mined from the nearby Bingham Canyon Mine, are intended to mimic the layered rock formations found throughout the state. The building, known as the Rio Tinto Center, sits against the foothills of the Wasatch Mountains and is designed to step down the slope, mirroring the natural contours of the landscape.