The Tropical Rainforest exhibit is a poetically just and technologically brilliant answer to the hopeful query that Sir Geoffrey Jellicoe made prior to completing the master plan for Moody Gardens: "Without destroying either wildlife or himself can [man] implant permanently into this extraordinary scene the marvelous story of his use from it?" Given the optimistic philosophy of this father figure to British Landscape Architects, it is not surprising that Moody Gardens has successfully pursued developing one of the most fragile of habitats within an enclosed environment at the western end of Galveston Island on a site that was once so obviously "not congenial to man" that the master planner surmised "Though he is conquering space at the near Houston Space Center, he will remain on planet earth harassed by winds, hurricanes and inundations . . . ."

The structure that protects the rainforest exhibit from inhospitable elements is 125 feet tall -- approximately 10-stories -- all glass over a steel framework in the form of a pyramid that admits light at the optimum level for plant growth, while also repelling the shear forces of hurricane winds. The 1,700 panes of glass are triple-paned: a PVC layer is sandwiched between two 1/4-inch thick pieces of clear tempered glass and laminated for strength. In laboratory tests of the concept design in York, Pennsylvania, the triangular trusses created the proper stress resistance for winds up to 140 miles an hour.

This structurally-secure haven hosts a variety of more than 2,000 species of tropical plants, reptiles and fish, brilliant butterflies and insects, and "free-flying" exotic birds like red ibis and blue and gold macaws. A full acre of climate-controlled habitat representing the rainforests of Africa, Asia, and Central and South America is complete with a 55-foot tall canopy of tropical foliage, crashing waterfalls, a 250-square-foot cave of fruit bat (responsible for seed dispersal in the wild), butterfly hatching facilities, and a Mayan colonnade, testimony to the tenacity and talent of men to restore their world.