This is odd rockwork. It appears that they never finished it and stained it. The texture in some places is rather odd. Has anyone experience of an exposed bank that looks like this?
It is interesting to see the many comments in regards to aesthetics with the enormous Islands project at Chester, as a zoo in the U.K. has never taken on such an immense project before. The idea of immersive exhibits is of course not new and many even rather small American zoos have detailed mudbanks such as this one at Alexandria Zoo:
Mock-rock is such a laboured process and there is a very fine line between quality workmanship and an amateurish finished product. Incorporating the mock-rock or fabricated "riverbank" into the background of an exhibit is perhaps half the battle as the rockwork in this Colchester Zoo hyaena exhibit simply looks like something Fred Flintstone would have created:
Actually, Snowleopard, I'm surprised that there appears to be so little comment among the UK ZChatters about the horrors of theming in the first place. A couple of years ago we all had quite a lot of back and forth between the great majority of UK members who felt theming was a waste of money and space that ought to be spent on animal care vs. North American members who saw value to good theming and immersion exhibits.
Perhaps I missed it in the several lengthy Islands threads, but it feels as though that issue has died at least as far as Islands is concerned.
It is interesting to see the many comments in regards to aesthetics with the enormous Islands project at Chester, as a zoo in the U.K. has never taken on such an immense project before. The idea of immersive exhibits is of course not new and many even rather small American zoos have detailed mudbanks such as this one at Alexandria Zoo:
Mock-rock is such a laboured process and there is a very fine line between quality workmanship and an amateurish finished product. Incorporating the mock-rock or fabricated "riverbank" into the background of an exhibit is perhaps half the battle as the rockwork in this Colchester Zoo hyaena exhibit simply looks like something Fred Flintstone would have created:
These banks only go along the side of the boat ride for quite short times, and don't shout out 'fake rock', this is actually under a bridge between animal exhibits. The photo shows most of this particular bank.
EDIT: Just to note, I seem to have cross posted with Zooplantman.
Actually, Snowleopard, I'm surprised that there appears to be so little comment among the UK ZChatters about the horrors of theming in the first place. A couple of years ago we all had quite a lot of back and forth between the great majority of UK members who felt theming was a waste of money and space that ought to be spent on animal care vs. North American members who saw value to good theming and immersion exhibits.
Perhaps I missed it in the several lengthy Islands threads, but it feels as though that issue has died at least as far as Islands is concerned.
I think that the piecemeal opening of Islands has sidelined the theming issue to some extent (incidentally according to both the Oxford and Chambers dictionaries this word does not exist in British English - perhaps we ought to say 'styling').
In Islands most of the cosmetic stuff is at the entrance (Coral Sands - Entry checkpoint, refreshment stall, fake shop & beached boats) and the non-animal areas (Sumba - around boat queue & jetty, Mandano Town - around the Street Kitchen, play area & Exit checkpoint). Personally, I thought it was quite striking and it did add something to the experience on my first visit, but I wouldn't miss it very much if it disappeared before I arrive next time.
In the animal areas, the bridges and paths are styled (bamboo, ropework etc) and there are some artefacts, such as the carvings on the Dragon bridge, the Bali aviary shelter and the Turtle waterfall - but there is much less extraneous material. I don't have a problem with most of this - although the waterfall is ugly.
In the Monsoon Forest, the viewing area overlooking the orang indoor exhibits is the Tripa Research Station, with lots of bookcases, maps, coats and boots and clipboards - my initial reaction was that it was overdone and too cluttered, but I will take a longer look on my next visit.
Actually, Snowleopard, I'm surprised that there appears to be so little comment among the UK ZChatters about the horrors of theming in the first place. A couple of years ago we all had quite a lot of back and forth between the great majority of UK members who felt theming was a waste of money and space that ought to be spent on animal care vs. North American members who saw value to good theming and immersion exhibits.
Perhaps I missed it in the several lengthy Islands threads, but it feels as though that issue has died at least as far as Islands is concerned.
I think part of this is that in the UK we're used to theming being used as much to 'jazz up' an otherwise unremarkable exhibit rather than to enhance a good one, or else retro-fitted as a 'quick fix' for a dated enclosure.
I think the scale of 'Islands' and the fact it has been scratch-built to include it allow it to feel like the theming is appropriate, unlike the various dodgy temples and concrete termite mounds we normally put up with (and Chester has examples of both..!).
Chester have at least gone into this properly - done 'the full Hannover' on it - unlike most of their previous attempts (only the Tsavo aviary/wild dog section is similarly 'full-on-themed').
I've mentioned in a previous post, that the areas with the fake rock work need to be seen in the context if the entire Islands exhibit. I am not a fan of lots of unnatural fake rock work (e.g. I hate the fake rock waterfall in Chester's elephant enclosure). However, the Islands rock work sits within the setting of 50,000 plants and trees which, the majority of the time, obscure and soften up the rocks and create in my opinion a very appealing backdrop. I would say that several of the photos are a bit misleading in that they don't do justice to the level of detail and natural effect that I believe has been created. I do agree the least natural rock work is the indoor orang and macaque enclosures and accept this does feel slightly out of kilter with the rest of the Islands exhibit.
As far as theming (styling?) and immersion I am a big fan and think it adds value and context to zoo exhibits. I will try to read the old threads about this to understand the difference in opinion!! I actually think the themed areas in Islands, for the most, create a real sense of place and help distinguish the different Islands. Not sure if it's been mentioned here but there are also lots of sound effects. So, the entrance walkway has bird sounds, in Coral sands you hear seagulls and the sounds of the coast. Sumba village has the hustle and bustle of crowd noise. Bali gives you the calming sounds of wind chimes and Monsoon forest has booming thunder claps. I was very apprehensive about this but I actually like it as it's not too obvious.
If I'm honest I think lots of zoo visitors don't appreciate the amount if detail that has gone into this in Islands, but if you look hard enough there are some really nice touches. I have heard some visitors wax lyrical about the level of detail and it's often the children that I've seen explore it the most which pleased me.
