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Unlike traditionally dark natural history museums, the new Academy is filled with light and life. Glass is used extensively in the exterior walls, creating open, airy galleries and sightlines to the surrounding parkland. And, the exhibits in the building are filled with 38,000 live animals - including African penguins, an albino alligator, colorful rainforest birds and butterflies, and the world’s deepest display of living corals.

One of the world’s most innovative museum building projects has reached completion. After nearly a decade of planning, the California Academy of Sciences opened its new doors to the public in September. Designed by Pritzker Prize winner Renzo Piano, the building is topped with a 2.5-acre living roof and employs a wide range of energy-saving materials and technologies.

The Academy is the only institution in the world to house an aquarium, planetarium, four story rainforest, natural history museum and world-class research facility under one roof.