Page "I. M. Pei" Paragraph 108

One major challenge was the approach to the museum.

The Japanese team proposed a winding road up the mountain, not unlike the approach to the NCAR building in Colorado.

Instead, Pei ordered a hole cut through a nearby mountain, connected to a major road via a bridge suspended from ninety-six steel cables and supported by a post set into the mountain.

The museum itself was built into the mountain, with 80 percent of the building underground.