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The new California Academy of Sciences: Something spectacularly sustainable awaits
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The newly renovated California Academy of Sciences will be something to behold when it opens its doors this Saturday, September 27. As the epitome of green-friendly architecture, the boldly constructed museum received a major facelift at a sizable cost of $488 million. Ever since the original building was seriously damaged in the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake, the vision was to rebuild a sustainable facility that teaches conservation on a very personal level to the visitor. Located across the Music Concourse from the de Young Museum of Art, it has been completely redesigned by Italian architect Renzo Piano with see-through glass walls, 60,000 photovoltaic cells that produce 10 percent of its electricity, other walls packed with shredded denim jeans for insulation, and special sensors to adjust the lights according to the time of day.
Funded primarily with private donations, the state-of-the-art facility offers a combination of features unlike any other natural history museum in the world:
· A 65-foot tall domed indoor rain forest
· A 300-seat planetarium
· An African Hall that features dioramas of taxidermied wildlife in their habitat plus twenty live penguins
· An indoor swamp with live animals and underwater viewing windows
· A 2.5-acre living roof planted with a wildflower meadow
· A naturalist center with an extensive collection of books, maps and photographs
· Dining options from Charles Phan (Slanted Door) and Loretta Keller (Bizou and COCO500)
· A new Steinhart Aquarium featuring a mammoth coral reef tank and underwater viewing windows
Cutaway view of the museum (Photo: www.metropolismag.com)
The grand opening this weekend kicks off a celebration with plenty of family-friendly activities and entertainment outside the Academy in the Music Concourse. Expect quite a crowd on Saturday since admission inside is free that day. Hours are extended both Saturday and Sunday. Otherwise, the entry fee is $24.95 for adults, $19.95 for seniors and youths, and $14.95 for children ages 7-11. Children six and under are free. There will be other opportunities for free days if you are over six: Wachovia Wednesdays (the third Wednesday of every month) and Neighborhood Free Days (open weekends for SF residents in each zip code). Normal hours of operation are Monday - Saturday 9:30AM - 5:00PM, Sunday 11:00AM - 5:00PM.
Here’s a sneak preview from late last year of what you will see at the California Academy of Sciences courtesy of San Francisco Chronicle Science Editor David Perlman:
(Video: San Francisco Chronicle / YouTube)
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