The Living Museum: Celebrating Nature & Modeling Resilience at Marie Selby Botanical Gardens

The Living Museum: Celebrating Nature & Modeling Resilience at Marie Selby Botanical Gardens tells the story of an institution redefined by the challenges of our time. Nestled along Sarasota’s bayfront, Selby Gardens began as a quiet gift of land, a sanctuary for plants, research, and community. Over decades, it grew into a globally significant center for the study of epiphytes, plants that thrive by drawing everything they need from the sunlight, air, and water that surround them.

Faced with intensifying tropical storms and aging infrastructure, Selby Gardens’ leadership embarked on a bold and deeply collaborative effort to reimagine its future. Guided by the principles of regenerative design and the Living Building Challenge, the Selby Gardens design team transformed the campus into a “Living Museum”, a place where buildings function like ecosystems, where science is made visible, and where visitors can experience a hopeful vision of what the built environment can become.

The book traces this journey in full: from deep local history and Marie Selby’s enduring legacy, through moments of challenge and redesign, to the ultimate test of newly completed buildings during real-world hurricanes. It is a story of leadership, architectural acumen, innovation, and creativity under constraint.

More than a case study, The Living Museum offers a compelling vision for how institutions can evolve, embracing resilience, fostering community, and beauty, and giving back more than they take.

Fun Facts: Marie Selby Botanical Gardens was named to TIME Magazine’s 2024 list of the “World’s Greatest Places,” recognizing it as one of the 100 most extraordinary destinations globally for its innovation, visitor experience, and cultural relevance.

Selby Gardens was the recipient of the 2025 American Architecture Award, honoring the Phase One Master Plan as a leading example of innovation and excellence in the built environment.