Renzo Piano's new Academy of Sciences building in San Francisco is bursting with green technology and alive with plants.
"Inside the sober exterior of the California Academy of Sciences, an elevator plunges through four stories of rain forest into a glass-tunnel swamp alive with wriggling armored catfish and spotted peacock bass. It's the most fun you could have while being hectored to save the planet.
The academy opens its sparkling new building in San Francisco's Golden Gate Park on Sept. 27, replacing a complex severely damaged in a 1989 earthquake. It's a research institution, but to the public it is an occasionally unwieldy combination of the Kimball Natural History Museum, Steinhart Aquarium and Morrison Planetarium. Every penny of its hefty $488 million cost is on view, gorgeously packaged by the Italian architect Renzo Piano.
Its overarching messages are the essential role of evolution in the work of the natural sciences and the urgency of addressing global climate change. In Piano's design, the medium is the message."
FULL STORY: Swamp Things Slither in $488 Million California Science Museum

Planetizen Federal Action Tracker
A weekly monitor of how Trump’s orders and actions are impacting planners and planning in America.

Chicago’s Ghost Rails
Just beneath the surface of the modern city lie the remnants of its expansive early 20th-century streetcar system.

Amtrak Cutting Jobs, Funding to High-Speed Rail
The agency plans to cut 10 percent of its workforce and has confirmed it will not fund new high-speed rail projects.

Ohio Forces Data Centers to Prepay for Power
Utilities are calling on states to hold data center operators responsible for new energy demands to prevent leaving consumers on the hook for their bills.

MARTA CEO Steps Down Amid Citizenship Concerns
MARTA’s board announced Thursday that its chief, who is from Canada, is resigning due to questions about his immigration status.

Silicon Valley ‘Bike Superhighway’ Awarded $14M State Grant
A Caltrans grant brings the 10-mile Central Bikeway project connecting Santa Clara and East San Jose closer to fruition.
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