Academy of Arts & Sciences (San Francisco)

The concrete facade of the California Academy of Sciences in Golden Gate Park features a living roof covered in nearly two million native plants. Beneath this undulating landscape, the building houses an aquarium, a planetarium, and a natural history museum. In nineteen ninety-eight, the old structure suffered extensive damage from the Loma Prieta earthquake. Architect Renzo Piano oversaw the design of this replacement, integrating natural ventilation and solar panels to create one of the most sustainable public museums in the world.