This building looks wonderful, inside and out - or rather, it looks wonderful when it is sticking to its core business. The lemur enclosure, shown in an earlier photo, is a shocker (and what are lemurs doing in a reptile house, anyway?). I know you're not really a reptile man, Baldur, but I'd be interested in your verdict on MOMA? I don't think I've ever seen a truly great display of reptiles - great collections, certainly, but not a great display. And with the idea of reptile houses per se now rather unfashionable (when was the last major one built as a separate entity before this?), this may be the last chance for the concept to achieve greatness.
Thanks again for these great pictures you are uploading from your American trip - really very interesting indeed (and all the better for the fact that you have clearly edited those you took, cutting out the sub-par and the duplicated).
This building looks wonderful, inside and out - or rather, it looks wonderful when it is sticking to its core business. The lemur enclosure, shown in an earlier photo, is a shocker (and what are lemurs doing in a reptile house, anyway?). I know you're not really a reptile man, Baldur, but I'd be interested in your verdict on MOMA? I don't think I've ever seen a truly great display of reptiles - great collections, certainly, but not a great display. And with the idea of reptile houses per se now rather unfashionable (when was the last major one built as a separate entity before this?), this may be the last chance for the concept to achieve greatness.
Thanks again for these great pictures you are uploading from your American trip - really very interesting indeed (and all the better for the fact that you have clearly edited those you took, cutting out the sub-par and the duplicated).
Thank you John for your compliments; those that do find their way onto Zoochat are winners for sure, for they have survived a purge after purge. I returned with around 1000 photos from Omaha but 'only' 319 remained in my personal collection after I had cleaned out all the rubbish and failures. And not even those 319 found their way onto Zoochat; only around 250 did, the best of the best, did. Sometimes I kept more than one photo of the same thing, but only when both or all are too good to throw away. But I try to be careful not to upload more than one here.
You're right in that I'm not a reptile person (I have even skipped posting reptile photos in order to avoid the misidentifications that even happens with mammals; I wish I had the experience many of you have here or had more selection of books when growing up) so when I visit a reptile house today I mostly look for the overall impression. I usually leave satisfied if it has been a 'complete experience.'
I'm sorry but I couldn't put my finger on what I mean exactly (English is not my first language) even if I'd write a whole essay here. However, I did make a 'Best of' list for most types of exhibits I saw during the tour, and this building found itself in the second place after Omaha for reptiles. Here is the reptile house list:
Top 5 Reptile and Amphibian Houses or Exhibits
Desert Dome and Kingdoms of the Night – Henry Doorly Zoo
Museum of Living Art – Fort Worth Zoo
Reptile House – Saint Louis Zoo
Carl F. Kauffeld Hall of Reptiles – Staten Island Zoo
Roger Contant Reptile and Amphibian House – Philadelphia Zoo
John, I can actually send you the document, as well as to anyone else interested. I only sent it to those who actually had sometime to do with the tour, mostly Americans, such as those who helped me with the planning, met me during the tour, etc.
John, I can actually send you the document, as well as to anyone else interested. I only sent it to those who actually had sometime to do with the tour, mostly Americans, such as those who helped me with the planning, met me during the tour, etc.
As an admirer of your remarkable photography and clear thinking about what makes a zoo--or a zoo exhibit--"work," I would be most interested in seeing your complete listings.
As an admirer of your remarkable photography and clear thinking about what makes a zoo--or a zoo exhibit--"work," I would be most interested in seeing your complete listings.
I've seen the last three on this list - possibly pre-rennovation - and they are all good, as are others in USA (Bronx, for example) and Europe (off the top of my head, the best would probably be Berlin, London, Cologne, Antwerp, Frankfurt). But these aren't really cutting edge - they're good, modern versions of what one might have seen half a century or more ago. Meanwhile, the display of fish has changed beyond recognition in the same period. Possibly Antwerp is a little bit more innovative than the other sin Europe, but I'm still not sure that it is doing anything radically different.
I've seen the last three on this list - possibly pre-rennovation - and they are all good, as are others in USA (Bronx, for example) and Europe (off the top of my head, the best would probably be Berlin, London, Cologne, Antwerp, Frankfurt). But these aren't really cutting edge - they're good, modern versions of what one might have seen half a century or more ago. Meanwhile, the display of fish has changed beyond recognition in the same period. Possibly Antwerp is a little bit more innovative than the other sin Europe, but I'm still not sure that it is doing anything radically different.
I'll send you the document and you'll see why I picked these - a short text follows each category. I picked these on a more varied basis than just on how 'cutting edge' they were. I'm just trying to finish the Texas photos, still have four zoos left...
There have been a number of reptile/amphibian complexes built or planned within the past few years in the United States:
2001 - Detroit Zoo opened the excellent, award-winning "Amphibiville".
2010 - Fort Worth Zoo opened MOLA (Museum of Living Art), considered by many to be the best reptile complex in North America.
2010 - El Paso Zoo opened its own reptile house, a tortoise-shaped building that is open-air and contains 21 terrariums of varying sizes.
2011 - LAIR (Living Reptiles, Invertebrates and Amphibians) is due to open at the Los Angeles Zoo
2013 - Knoxville Zoo is attempting to raise funds for a 2-story reptile/amphibian complex that will have around 150 different species. The zoo currently has over 400 different reptiles of around 80 species, but desperately needs new accommodation for many of them.
I found another reptile house to add to my previous list. The excellent Oklahoma City Zoo is planning on relocating its Herpetarium, and supposedly by 2017 it will occupy the structure of the zoo's soon-to-be renovated restaurant.
