3 things about CAS

3.The building:
I have to say the building itself is the thing that I liked the most of California Academy of Sciences. The exhibitions are great, each one occupies a very particular place within the building, and I believe it is how the exhibitions are integrated into the building what makes the tour a unified experience. The entire building was designed to allow as much natural light as possible, I saw the building from the outside one night, and that is way I wanted to go in the first place. When I entered the building it made sense to have such an open structure, in that way the outdoors are part of the experience as well and it makes the experience of exploring nature not as something external to our outside environment.
I particularly liked the Roof, the way sun windows allow visitors to look down into what hides under the dome, although It would’ve been better if it was possible for visitors to walk on it. Some of the eco-friendly functions about the rooftop are very surprising too; like the fact that it absorbs about 98% of the storm water that hits it, and also this helps keeping the building cooler than a standard roof, helping to cut back on cooling costs. Also the selection of plants that were chosen to provide habitat for birds bees and butterflies, that wont need watering because they grow naturally in the northern California climate. In addition to all this the roof is just beautiful to look at. I read that the architectural concept for the museum was to lift up a piece of the park and slide a building underneath.

2.The rain forest
At first it was for me a very weird experience, to be inside the museum where everything seems to be so carefully designed and at the same time be surrounded by birds and butterflies that flit through the trees. But this makes the exhibition more approachable and easier to understand. People can explore the different levels of the rainforest walking up from the ground level. Afterwards you take the elevator down to see the life underneath the Rainforest Rivers.

1.The small Things
All the small details like the sleek recycling bins for “trash” or the recycling bin marked for map re-use and other information on how people can do things differently, explaining the affecting factors and what can be done to alleviate them, including planting trees and how to fight global warming. Global warming is explained in a simple way on walls and panels throughout the exhibit, it highlights the extent of the problem and how much we stand to lose. These things not only give more credibility to the institution, but also they make a very important point that contrasts with the amazing infrastructure of the building. No matter how small the actions within our reach can seem, they are important anyway. The diffusion of all this information connects people with the ecosystems closer to them and their daily life.

Pedro