A UK assistant professor of architecture Martin Summers was a part of a team that designed a building that has been described as an architectural “masterpiece” by Business Insider. 

On Sept. 11, The Real Deal, a popular New York real estate website, published an article titled “10 overlooked architectural masterpieces in the U.S.” The building Summers helped design was included on the list and is now being recognized nationally.

The building is called the Perot Museum of Nature and Science and is located in Dallas, Texas.

“It’s awesome. It means you’re doing something that matters to someone,” Summers said. 

The “masterpiece” label was not the only rewarding commentary the building received.  The Real Deal also described the building as “one of the most cutting-edge buildings in America.”

When Summers and the team designed thebuilding, Summers worked for a company called Morphosis Architects.  

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Summers graduated from UK in 1996 with an undergraduate degree from the College of Architecture. He then went on to graduate school at University of California, Los Angeles.

Summers said that it was an honor to have the opportunity to work for such a prestigious company right out of school.

For the Perot Museum, Summers spent a lot of his time working on the exterior envelope and the atrium, which require a more intricate design process. He said his skill set includes being able to think through complex relationships with architecture software.

Summers said that he really enjoyed working on designing the museum. 

“There were parts of it that I could find myself totally excited about that I got to focus on and really work through,” Summers said. 

Since this building is a museum, it stood out from the many other buildings Summers has designed because of the architectural freedom it offered. He said the Perot Museum was kind of “introverted” and did not have a lot of windows.

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The project also presented Summers with the unique chance to design a building with a deeper representation.  

“The building itself is meant to be an extension of the idea of the exhibits that are inside. So the outside of the building is as much an exhibit as the things on the inside,” Summers said.

Summers said by working with his design team for the museum, he was immersed in a variety of valuable insights. He said some of the things he worked on in that project affect the way he thinks now, maybe a little stronger than his previous projects.

Summers is working toward his tenure and continues to develop his own practice, PLUS-SUM Studio.