Each year, people flock to Bronx Park to see beautiful flowers in bloom at the New York Botanical Garden.
With over 50 different gardens and plant collections, spanning across 250 acres of land, the gardens bring in over 900,000 people a year.
What’s amazing about the gardens is that at its center, there are 50 acres of forest; it’s the largest original forest of NYC before European settlers inhabited it in the 17th century.
But what you may not know is that hidden inside the grounds of the garden is a wonderful world of science.
In 2006, one of the garden’s most important architectural landmarks was built. At the Pfizer Plant Research Laboratory, scientists can be found researching just how genes function in the plants’ development.
E.E. Howell, of Obayashi USA, and Ennead Architects, designed the lab with a bit of modern elegance. Since then, the $23 million dollar building has been leading the world in the study of plant evolution. It’s one of the only buildings on the property with such new design; the rest of the acres are home to a green house and a library with designs all based on Italian Renaissance style.
The structure has floor to ceiling glass walls running down its length to blur the distinction of its interior and the exterior, making the scientists feel as if they are outside in the gardens at all times.
The modern landmark is preserved with the help of BirdMaster so that the birds can retreat to their habitats instead of damaging any national architecture!