The Academy is located in Golden
Gate Park, just across the way from
Herzog & de Meuron’s celebrated
de Young Museum.
EXHIBITION
DISPLAY
GRAPHICS
“This is not a case where the exhibits are put into a
traditional black box,” says Jonathan Katz, president of
Cinnabar, which assembled the design team for the Academy’s exhibitions. “We developed a kit of parts that
allowed for change and flexibility. It echoes the conceit
of the building as an antimuseum.” Since these exhibitions aren’t permanent, Cinnabar’s modular display system can be adapted by the museum’s facilities crew based
on how the content evolves. “The surface graphics are
inspired by the organization of scientific-specimen drawers,” says Eric Heiman, a principal at the San Francisco–
based graphic-design firm Volume, which collaborated
with Katz on the project. “Its versatility provides a more
engaging way to stratify the exhibit content.”
THE SITE
NEW
STRUCTURES
PREEXISTING
STRUCTURES
BY CRISWELL LAPPIN
dX^fle[e_
^XcXgX^fj
>8CÝG8>FJ =@E:?<J
>IFLE;=E:?<J
N8I9C<I=E:? KI<<=E:?<J
C8I>< D<;LD JD8CC M8DGI< :8:KLJ N8I9C<I NFF;G<:B<I JD8CC C8I>< M<><K8I8E
>IFLE;=E:? >IFLE;=E:? >IFLE;=E:? =E:? =E:? =E:? =E:? KI<<=E:? KI<<=E:? KI<<=E:?
;<K 9<8B
G8IIFK
:ILJ?E> 9<8BJ GIF9E> 9<8BJ >I8JGE> 9<8BJ
9<8B
J<<;J&
J<<;J :8:KLJ EJ<:KJ =ILK
9CFF;
@=PFLN<I< 8>8CÝG8>FJ 9<8BD<:?8E@:J
9 < 8 =@E:? =@E:?N?8KNFLC;PFL<8K6=fdljfej\Zjfj\\[j_\Y\Xbjf;XnejÔeZ_\j^m\ Zl\jfn_X\XZ_jg\Z\j\Xj=eZ_\jn__Zb_\XmpY\Xbj >X}gX^fjÔeZ_\j_Xm\\mfm\[n_flYXjZ\\[e^jX\^\j
ZXeZlj_Xe[fg\eX^\j\\[j_fj\n_jdXgfe\[Y\Xbj
8e[\XZ_jg\Z\j_XjXY\Xbjl\[f_\ff[\XjJfd\Zlj_
gZbXjdX\j\\[jK_\nXY\ÔeZ_lj\jj_eY\Xbfj\XZ_
KFJ<<?FN<8:? 9<8BNFIBJ>I89?FC;F=K?< j\\[j\_\X^\fjdXF_\jj\XZ_fej\Zj:XZlj\Xe^
fej\Zj8e[_\Y\XbjfZXZljÔeZ_\jX\fgfYe^ZXZlj
ÔeZ_\jXb\_\d[[\^fle[n_Y\Xbj_XXfn_\df\XYf_
Õfn\jljXe[j\\[j
?8E;C<J8E;KIPPFLI?8E;8K><KKE>8D<8C ej\ZjXe[jfj\\[jXe[ln_\efjg\ZXqe^eXepfe\_e^
8;8GK@M<
I8;@8K@FE
>X}gX^fjÔeZ_\j_Xm\X[Xgk\[kfe\nnXpjf]]\
N_\e_\j\\[$\Xe^XeZ\jf_XJ\\[\X\j Y\ZXd\jg\ZXq\[
^Xm\j\ff[XpjÔeZ_jg\Z\jÔjf\X\_\X^\fjdXj\\[j
\XZ_\[_\>X}gX^fj_\jXe[j F_\j Y\ZXd\nXY\$b\gZbe^
n\\XXe[ffggflep JflZ\j ej\Zjfd\Xm\j Fe\\mfm\[
fff[lj\[Ypf_\ Y[jfe_\ XgXf$b\Y\Xbjl\[f\Xe^
dXeXe[Xplelj\[fe_\jXe[j ljXe[Yl[j8e[Xef_\
8jj[\jZ\e[Xej\mfm\[_\p Y\ZXd\X[Xg\[fXnff[g\Zb\$
X[X\[flf Xb\X[mXeX^\f b\\jp\gf Ye^fej\Zj
_fj\\jflZ\j e\\YXb
LE;<IJK8E;@E>
;8IN@EËJ =@E:?<J
N_\e:_X\j;XneZf\Z\[>X}gX^fjÔeZ_\je/*,_\[[e
le[\jXe[_\dgfXeZ\Jfd\ffb\[jfleb\pgZXÔeZ_\j_\
[[e\Xq\_\p\m\en\\ÔeZ_\j
nXjele0+._Xn\Y\^Xefle[\jXe[_fn_\j\Y[j_X[
\mfm\[fdXje^\XeZ\jfK_Xp\X;Xm[CXZbn_f_X[jl[\[
>X}gX^fjÔeZ_\je_\n[Xe[jg\Zd\ejX_\8ZX[\dpXe[
f_\dlj\ldjgl Yj_\[_jXe[dXb Yffb;Xnej=eZ_\j
^XcXgX^fj
=
@
E
:
?
<
J
<
M
F
C
L
K
@
F
E
8dfe^ >Xc}gX^fj Ô eZ_\j n\ ZXe j\\ \mfclk`fe Xk nfib
>X}gX^fjÔeZ_\jjkXe[XjXZXjjZ\oXdg\f]\mflkfe=ifdfe\
ZfddfeJflk_8d\iZXeXeZ\jkfik_\p\mfm\[ekf(*jg\Z\jN_\
k_\iXeZ\jkfim\[fek_\^ifle[Xe[Xk\j\\[jk_\pm\X[Xgk\[kfX
iXe^\f]]\jkp\jeXmXi\kpf]_XYkXkjJfd\jk ZileZ_j\\[jfe
k_\^ifle[Fk_\ijm\eki\\jXe[\Xkej\Zkj Fe\\m\e\Xkj^i\\e
\Xm\jjfd\k_e^]\nYi[j[f
Kf[Xpk_\pZfekel\kf\mfm\i^_k Y\]fi\fli\p\jP\Xi Ypp\Xik_\i
gfglXkfejZ_Xe^\Xjjfd\e[m[lXj[\n_\fk_\ijÇY\kk\ijlk\[
kfZfe[kfejk_Xkp\XiÇm\kfi\gif[lZ\8e[fm\ikd\k_fj\jdX
Z_Xe^\jZXeX[[lglekXe\njg\Z\jXij\j
can remain unchanged for generations. “To me,
that’s the antithesis of science. Science is not this
collection of facts that you put on a wall. It’s a very
dynamic process. It’s about new hypotheses, new
data.” Whereas the old science had been about a
lone researcher bent over his microscope, the new
science was about teams collaborating to solve
problems. “At the old Academy, the two most distant points were scientists’ offices,” Kociolek says.
“The old physical plan had pushed the intellectual
capital apart at a time when the program was calling for bringing the intellectual capital together.”
With so many imperatives to address, it became
clear that the Academy would have to do more than
Top: The modular exhibition system can be
reconfigured as the content changes. Above:
Within Volume’s graphic system, large-format
images will be printed directly onto plywood,
negating the need for additional substrates.
“Science is not this collection of facts that you put
on a wall,” Patrick Kociolek
says. “It’s about new
hypotheses, new data.”
just fix up two buildings. The old museum wasn’t
going to support the new ideals—and it wasn’t going
to survive a continued attendance slump, either.
Inspired by Mario Botta’s then-new San Francisco
Museum of Modern Art and the de Young Museum’s
decision to hire the high-profile firm Herzog & de
Meuron, the Academy’s trustees realized they didn’t
just need a new building; they needed a forward-thinking design that could carry the whole institution into the new century.
To find the architect who could meet this challenge, the Academy hired Bill Lacy, at the time the
executive director of the jury for the Pritzker
Architecture Prize. Lacy said he thought there were
only about 40 firms in the world who could take
on the scale of the project, so the Academy sent
out a request for portfolios and narrowed the field
of 38 respondents down to six: Toyo Ito, Moshe
Safdie, Norman Foster, Richard Rogers, James
Polshek, and Renzo Piano. The selection committee brought the architects to the museum site in
Golden Gate Park, traveled abroad to see their
many built projects, and, in late 1999, invited each
of them to an interview. continued on page 154
Sidebar images, courtesy Volume; site plan illustration, Andrew Taray;
elevation, courtesy the California Academy of Sciences
Piano’s big move, the living roof,
effectively takes a long box and knits
it into its wooded, hilly site.
