The California Academy of Sciences is located in San Francisco's Golden Gate Park. According to Wikipedia it is one of the ten largest museums of natural history in the world. It has undergone a complete renovation and reopened in 2008. The class overview states that , "The Humanities Program is dedicated to the study of works of human thought and creativity...." The renovation of the Academy of Sciences building is just that.
Although there is much to write about the museum itself, I am concentrating on the building. Some of the key people/firms associated with the renovation are architect Renzo Piano, reconstruction contractor Webcor Builders and the SWA Group which designed the landscape including the Living Roof.
Although many of the exhibits of the Academy focus on how we got here, the other direction it is exploring is the answer to the questions how do we stay and how do we sustain life on Earth?
One way to do this is to make people aware of sustainability and the green building is one way to accomplish this.
The Living Roof is designed to look like Twin Peaks and the plants and flowers that have been planted are native to the area. The roof area is 2.5 acres and can retain rainwater, which is collected in the basement resused for roof irrigation. The roof is important to the ventilation of the building as well. The building has retractable skylights, and this natural ventilation is used to keep the building cool.
The walls of the building are insulated with recycled denim and much of the building was renovated using materials recycled from the demolition of the original building. Throughout the building are exhibits explaining how and why materials were used.
Although I have visited the building since its reopening, there was so much information to digest and view that it was impossible to see it all. The exhibits which relate to the future and how it can/cannot be sustained based on the use of the Earth's natural resources are excellent and ask for your review of what you are doing in your life - how green are you?
Anthony Frye wrote about California rattlesnakes. Personally I cannot stand snakes. I didn't know that 25% of male snakes do not use venom when biting. I recently saw a rattlesnake for the first time and it was very freightening. It was about 5 feet from me and we tossed pebbles at it to get it to move off the center of the path we were on. The sound of the rattlers is very distinct.
http://tfrye.blogspot.com/
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