The Academy of Sciences goes "underground"
Among the delicacies of Golden Gate Park is the Academy of Sciences, a research center in the areas of biodiversity and sustainability, and a natural history museum. Generations of the city’s children have grown up visiting the Steinhart Aquarium, the Morrison Planetarium, and the beloved dioramas of California’s natural wonders, featuring life-size figures of Ohlone Indian maidens paddling by in their boats made of Tule reeds, with stuffed egrets peeking out of the surrounding weeds.
When the Academy of Sciences was rebuilt in 2008, many of the lifelike tableaux disappeared and were replaced with actual living environments, including a tropical rain forest enclosed in a 90-foot-tall glass dome; a Philippine coral reef; and a 2.5-acre garden on the roof complete with several knolls and a tapestry of native flora chosen for their ability to thrive on little water, high winds, and salt spray from the ocean. The nine species of plants selected were started in bio trays made of coconut husks, which allowed their roots to entwine and so permit the plants to hold each other in place on slanting surfaces. This “living roof” helps cool the building and provides a sanctuary for birds and butterflies.
Info
Address California Academy of Sciences, 55 Music Concourse Drive, San Francisco, CA, 94118, www.calacademy.org, +1 415.379.8000 | Public Transport Bus: 44 (Academy of Sciences stop) | Hours Mon–Sat 9:30am–5pm, Sun 11am–5pm| Tip Every Thursday evening you can explore the museum while sipping a cocktail or just listening to music, during NightLife at the Academy.
The transformation of the museum into a state-of-the-art “green building” was all the genius of the Italian architect Renzo Piano (b. 1937), who is best known in recent years for the Shard in London and the Nemo Science Center in Amsterdam. His idea for the Academy of Sciences was to “raise up the park, and put the museum under it.” Besides the green roof, the building was constructed with recycled concrete and steel, bits of reused denim for insulation, an irrigation system that utilizes rainwater, and natural lighting in 90 percent of the occupied spaces. As the New York Times put it, the building is a “comforting reminder of the civilizing function of great art in a barbaric age.”
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