10 years and $500million USD later, San Francisco’s new California Academy of Sciences has been declared by the BBC as the ‘greenest museum ever’. Not least because of its indoor, 4-storey rainforest and ‘living roof’ – 2.5 planted acres of native species.
Sustainable design was built in from day one. The Pritzer Award-winning architect, Renzo Piano, envisaged a roof design that “is like lifting up a piece of the park and putting a building under it.” As well as looking pretty, it starts new conversations about sustainable design and green issues among visitors – exhibits within an exhibit.
At 410,000 square feet, the building draws together the 12 separate structures previously housing the collections. The one building ensures that both the physical and the thematic intertwine throughout.
One final note. As should be expected considering its pioneering neighbours, the Academy boasts awesome technological integration. Among other attractions, visitors will be able to “view the most accurate rendering of the Universe ever created, catch virtual butterflies with a digital net, make a public video pledge that’s instantly shared with others over the internet, and use a cell-phone to go on an Academy-wide scavenger hunt.”
£222.70 London Heathrow to San Francisco with Air France – anyone else feel a trip coming on..?
