In the historic Ballard neighbourhood of north-west Seattle, the National Nordic Museum is the largest museum in North America dedicated to the heritage, culture and contemporary contributions of the five Nordic countries: Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden. The museum opened in May 2018 in a striking new 57,000-square-foot building designed by the Seattle-based Mithun architecture firm, replacing an earlier museum dating back to 1980 housed in a converted elementary school down the st.....

In the bustling Phinney Ridge neighbourhood about four miles north of downtown Seattle, the Woodland Park Zoo is one of the most architecturally and ecologically progressive zoos in the United States. The 92-acre zoo traces its origins to 1899, when the small private estate of the Seattle real-estate developer Guy Phinney was acquired by the city following Phinney's death and converted into a public park, with a small collection of donated animals forming the original zoo around the same time. .....