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Four simple ideas: why Renzo Piano's California Academy works
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Photo: Tim Griffith
Everyone knows the little blue box. The signature Tiffany box. You know that something really special is going to be inside, but they box itself creates anticipation even before it's opened.
That's what the new California Academy of Sciences is like. A really cool box with fantastic jewelry inside.
A lot has been written in the last few weeks about this masterpiece. Beyond the really cool aspects of this structure, I want to look at the underlying concepts of the Academy building and explore why it works so well. Four ideas seem compelling to me.
It's a great fit in Golden Gate Park. The core concept of the building--elevating 2.5 acres of greenery and inserting a museum underneath--is bold genius. Yes, other buildings have green roofs, but few have made it appear so natural and effortless; usually the green roofs have an "added" appearance. The use of indigenous plant species that will thrive in the Park's ecosystem is in harmony with the Academy's mission. There are countless other green aspects to the design as well. The architect, Renzo Piano, put his client's desires first rather than creating a monument to his architectural genius. In doing so, he revealed a greater genius.
Elements of the museum are expressed in the architecture. The dome portions of the roof hint that something pretty special is occurring beneath them; it's a hint even before you enter the building that you'll want to look at what's beneath those domes. Placing the planetarium and rainforest, both spherical structures, under the domes is a beautiful concept. In execution, those spaces, particularly the complex glass sphere of the rainforest, are flawless. It's core tenet of modern architecture; the interior of a building should be expressed in the exterior. Piano pulls it off with finesse.
The architecture doesn't overpower the museum. Some museums are completely overshadowed by their building; others are so unassuming and blasé they make no statement whatsoever. The Academy building splits the difference quite well. The exterior is understated and hints at what you are about to experience inside. Once inside, you are aware of the building but you are smitten by the exhibits. The central piazza (the interior courtyard, if you will) is the "big" architectural space inside with its elegant tensegrity structure suspended above. The overall effect is that the building is tastefully done but still fulfills its role as the stage for the museum's exhibits.
The building explains itself to you intuitively. Ever been in a museum where you were constantly lost and couldn't figure out where the next thing was? Walk in to the Academy and you instantly understand the layout of the whole museum. This is largely due to Piano's wide open space that is unobstructed with unneccessary walls. Stand in the piazza and you know exactly where you are in relation to everything else. That's good architecture; you feel as though you're before a beautiful dinner table with a cornucopia of scientific exhibits all laid out for your tasting.
While these four concepts seem obvious, even simplistic, in reality they are not easy to pull off in a big facility like the Academy. Those are a few of the reasons this building is garnering international notice and acclaim and the reason future San Franciscans will come to love the Academy anew.
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