I personally want to see the actual orangutan exhibit before I make a decision. Think of all the ways people have tried to display orangutans before with mediocre levels of church. Maybe mega-church is the secret to making an orangutan exhibit that is 1)good for the animals, 2)educates and excites the public about orangutans, & 3)allows keepers to provide the best possible form of care for the exhibits inhabitants. If this exhibit accomplishes that we have no choice but to say it is a success no matter what anyone may have thought while making armchair commentary.
30 million dollar monstrosity. Imagine if they built a 10 million exhibit and sent the other 20 million to Asia for in situ conservation efforts. Won't happen at Indy - the egos are far too big
It doesn't look as though they do. Another thing to note. The "O" line towers that surround the building allow the orangs to come up and climb around. OK - that's cool (and has been done before)
Note, though, the roller coaster track right below the "o" line. this will allow guests to take a "monorail" (their words, from the media releases) that gets them closer to the orangs that may or may not be hanging out on the towers.
Be ready zoo world - we will be talking about this one for years!
I don't like the look of this at all; a modernist cathedral with ramps from a multi-storey car park, an orbital high wire and cable cars looks like an architectural nightmare. But in the end, what matters are the reactions of the orangs, their keepers and the visiting public, so I am happy to suspend judgement at the moment. It is an interesting, indeed daring concept - but will it work?
The thing I don't like about it is that there is no notion of the orang utans living or exisiting in a context other than one created by humans. I don't believe that enclosures have to be completely immersive or representative of an animal's natural environment but here there is not even a nod to that.
I like architectural elements in zoos and innovation can be a postive thing but here it seems to be totally divorcing orang utans from their natural environment and in a world where many people are increasingly detatched from nature I find this hugely problematic.
The behavioural elements could have been achieved without putting the orang utans into the set of a science fiction film.
