Credit: Kevin G. Smith

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The museum’s recent 31,000-square-foot addition is itself a testimony to the distinctiveness of Alaska and the Arctic. Even the materials used in the architecture of a new wing reflect a sense of place – in this case, Anchorage, Alaska, a Northern city within a sub-Arctic landscape. Windowed galleries overlook the city’s urban and natural surroundings, connecting museum content to the environment it references. The façade is clad in zinc and Alaskan Yellow Cedar, pairing contemporary design sensibility with the materials’ durability and the weathering that defines Alaska’s built environment.