The American Museum of Natural History has opened a new branch in New York, and it will definitely surprise you
'04.05.2023'
Nadezhda Verbitskaya
Insects in the American Museum of Natural History. On May 4, the museum opened the long-awaited Richard Gilder Center for Science, Education and Innovation. And the $465 million building is literally teeming with insects, but in a good way. New York Post.
The center's 21-square-meter atrium, designed by architect Jeanne Gang, is reminiscent of the canyons of the American Southwest.
Museum visitors can start exploring the 465 square meter insectarium on the first floor.
The new beetle and insect exhibit features a host of digital exhibits and maps. In addition, artfully attached butterflies and beetles, huge models of bees and mosquitoes, and a 3,6 kg resin hive model await visitors.
Among other things, 18 species of living creatures live here, including giant cave cockroaches and orchid mantises.
Visitors can walk under a transparent sky bridge and watch 500 leaf cutter ants carry pieces of blackberries to feed their colony.
The new insectarium eliminates the lack of museum exhibits over the past 50 years
“Before, there was nothing in the museum dedicated to insects, the most diverse life forms on Earth, absolutely critical to many ecosystems,” says James Carpenter, curator of invertebrate zoology.
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One floor above, 1000 butterflies of 80 different species flit through the indoor garden. They now and then sit on purple and yellow platforms, tropical plants, and even on the shoulders of visitors.
The exhibition "Invisible Worlds" is located on the third floor. This is an interactive exhibition that demonstrates all the ways in which life on Earth is interconnected.
During the 12-minute video, viewers will be surrounded by shimmering molecules and strands of DNA. Then they will see tree roots collecting water and whales chasing krill underwater.
On three of the new center's four floors open to the public, floor-to-ceiling glass display cases showcase some of the building's 4 million samples. Everything will amaze you - from butterflies collected by the author of "Lolita" Vladimir Nabokov, to "cleaned and painted" seahorses in jars.
After announcing its expansion in 2014, the museum ran into roadblocks to completion.
Thousands of local residents, including tennis legend Billie Jean King, protested the center's construction. They feared the project would encroach on the city's Theodore Roosevelt Park.
In 2018, a public non-profit organization unsuccessfully sued the museum to stop construction.
However, the museum still "loves" King and invited her to get acquainted with the new exhibits.
“I'm sure she'll find her favorite exhibit,” Decatur concluded.
