California Academy of Sciences

About

Opened in 1853 as the California Academy of Natural Sciences, this institution has weathered two major earthquakes over more than 160 years. Rebuilt from the ground up after damage from the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake, the building, designed by architect Renzo Piano, reopened in September 2008. Set within Golden Gate Park, its roof is planted with 1.7 million California native plants across 2.5 acres, turning the roof itself into a living landscape that shifts with the seasons. Step inside and a glass-domed rainforest, 90 feet in diameter and modeled on the flooded forests of the Amazon, wraps visitors in humid air, while the 90-foot Morrison Planetarium unfurls the paths of stars overhead. Passing the Steinhart Aquarium and a penguin habitat where African penguins swim, one comes to realize that more than 46 million specimens and some 60,000 living animals coexist within these walls.