Conservation means development as much as it does protection.
–Theodore Roosevelt

The 77th Street Entrance, or Victorian Facade, to the American Museum of Natural History harkens to a time of great progress in this fledgling New York landmark. An 1897 edition of Harper's Weekly published plans for the completed museum, echoing the southern facade shown here on all four sides, anchored by the massive turrets at each corner. The architect's plans also showed a central tower rising over twice this height, called the "Hall of the Heavens" to hold an observatory and planetarium, and with connecting buildings and interior courtyards between. Two-thirds of the original drawings were never completed, as a new monumental front would be built facing Central Park West, and a far more recent architectural statement in the Rose Center for Earth and Space (opened in 2000).

While never growing to its original intentions, the turn-of-the-century themes that continue on the interior of the museum's 27 interconnected buildings all stem from the standard set (on 77th Street). In the past decade, the Museum of Natural History made a transition from using this facade in its marketing to (a more modern approach). Yet, I felt the original hand-drawn illustration deserved an update. So, this vector graphic has painstakingly recreated the lines and arches of the original, giving it the good fortune of being scalable at any size and taking on any set of colors or shadows. A flexible and sustainable design thanks to a little math behind the scenes.

Ultimately, the Rose Center is not all that different from its older cousin on the south end of the museum. Ellen Futter, President of the American Museum of Natural History, shared her insight in the 2000 Annual Report: "Among the most ambitious and significant additions to the Museum in its 131-year history, the Rose Center increases the Museum's square footage by nearly one quarter. More important than sheer size, the Rose Center constitutes a groundbreaking advance for science education worldwide and a singular new icon on the New York City skyline." The connecting thread Ms. Futter speaks of is the continuing mission of the museum to reach out to the public. A role "where education and advanced research intersect" and with "efforts [that] have illuminated and enriched the public's understanding of and respect for this fragile planet and the vast cosmos that surrounds us."