wejetset - magazine - Places to See: California Academy of Science is Super Green

Places to See: California Academy of Science is Super Green

Museums make for great travel fare, but this particular museum is not your average academic destination. With 10 years of careful planning and a budget of $500 million, Renzo Piano and his team of ninja-like architects have constructed one of the greenest museums on the planet. The recent opening of the California Academy of Science (CAS) has demonstrated how careful craftsmanship and environmental consciousness can merge to create an exciting place for learning.

Located in San Francisco’s Golden Gate Park, CAS houses an aquarium, planetarium, natural history museum and a 4-story rainforest. It’s recognized as one of the world’s preeminent natural history museums and is an international leader in scientific research about the natural world.* As lead architect, Renzo Piano, describes, “I try to get at the fundamental emotion of a site. The roof design is like lifting up a piece of the park and putting a building under it. This museum has always worked on three levels – displaying the collection, educating the public, researching the science. The spirit of this new building is to announce and enforce this complexity of function.” Click Read More for additional information and photos.