The museum houses the De Menil Collection of Modern and African Primitive Art. A thorough study of the conditions of solar angularity, the filtering of ultra-violet rays, multiple refractions etc. was carried out by means of an appropriate »solar machine«. The lighting is indirect and remains natural, maintaining external changeability in the building. Added to these studies were experiments with structural materials that have produced an element called »leaf«, a device for modulating both artificial and natural light.