- [Narrator] The Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth takes nature and light and creates a structure that is its own work of art.

It was designed by renowned Japanese architect Tadao Ando, and opened in 2002.

The Modern stands on 11 acres in the city's cultural district.

It's across the street from the Kimbell Museum, designed by acclaimed architect Louis Kahn.

While the modern is a larger building, its design and scale doesn't overshadow its neighbor.

Instead, the two museums harmonize.

Ando was greatly influenced by Kahn's attention to natural light and use of concrete.

While the Kimbell shows hints of Roman architecture in its grand arches and vaults, The Modern is influenced by Japanese simplicity of straight structural lines.

Ando used minimal materials to create sharp, clean edges.

Three flat-roof pavilions appear to float on top of the one-and-a-half acre pond, like lanterns drifting on water.

40-foot high Y-shaped columns support the concrete roofs, resembling a swan's raised wings.

Ando used water to soften the sound between the museum and the nearby highway.

Other references to nature abound.

An outdoor sculpture garden, terrace, and surrounding trees allow water, earth, and light to merge.

Light plays a key role in the design.

It's both diffused and reflected naturally.

Soaring ceilings and glass walls creating an open airy feeling.

And removing the boundary between outside and in.

The museum houses more than 3,000 works of modern and contemporary art.

Ando considered this space an arbor for art.

He once said, "I don't think architecture has to speak too much.

"It should remain silent."

Funding for The Shape of Texas is provided by Texas Society of Architects; and by a grant from Humanities Texas, the state affiliate of The National Endowment for the Humanities; and The Summerlee Foundation of Dallas, Texas.