Im doing some writing about the current trends in zoo exhibit design and I thought people might appreciate if I shared it with you. This likelly will be quite long and indepth, but hopefully it will be of some interest. Im going to start by looking at the example case of my local Woodland Park Zoo. At one time it was a revolutionary force redefining what a zoo is at its core. Rather than brute creatures to be ogled at in a cell they were exhibited as one with their environment, or at least as close to this as possible in captivity. WPZ in conjunction with Jones & Jones Architecture and the revolutionary David Hancock's had created the first immersion exhibits starting in 1976 with the infamous gorilla exhibits, a concept now found throughout western zoological institutions. Over the following decades the WPZ added immersion exhibits one after another:
One of the two gorilla enclosures in question:
The Africa area has no weak points, this is the African Savannah exhibit with clever sight-lines hiding the hippo barrier in the foreground:
Huge Lion Exhibit with no obvious barriers and tall grass to lie in:
The fantastic Asia trail area (Orangutan):
Grizzly bear exhibit, part of the PNW trail, all the exhibits are large and barriers hidden:
River Otter with Mountain Goat in the background:
These were the up years, the pursuit of immersive educational exhibitry was at its finest hour. However over the past decade it has taken leaps and bounds backwards, a worrying trend away from these positive advancements in zoo design. I think the designer of the gorilla exhibit that started it all David Hancocks puts the recent developments in zoo design perfectly:
"Eventually zoos found their own version of “Landscape Immersion” with exhibits that look sort of natural, but most decidedly aren’t. Typically, now, zoo gorillas are held in exhibits that cost many millions of dollars more than the $500,000 gorilla exhibit we built in Seattle, which was then the largest in the world (but ridiculously small by wild gorilla standards).
Nowadays too many gorillas are still confined in spaces much too small, with no contact with living vegetation, and absolutely nothing to interact with except huge clumps of fake rockwork and vastly expensive concrete trees that are of zero value to them. So I think my Landscape Immersion experiments have essentially been largely a failure.”
I would like to believe that he is mistaken in it being a complete failure, he has surely achieved a great deal in shaping the zoos we know and love today, but he has a serious point. In recent years I have found myself appreciating those old exhibits which do immersion justice more and more, whilst being continually disappointed with the supposed "modern" zoo exhibits being unveiled in recent years, even at the Woodland Park Zoo.
The self described "zoo's most ambitious new exhibit project in nearly two decades" Bayan Wilds, a southeast asian complex featuring new Tigers and otter exhibits, as well as the slightly renovated sloth bear grotto's and a small aviary holding no new species. This strayed far and to the side of the design pillars they established in 1976, gone were the hidden barriers and immersive design. In with fake ranger station viewing windows, ugly fake trees, and gaudy black mesh fencing towering higher than the exhibit is wide and erasing any semblance of immersion:
This replaced the outdated grotto they previously occupied, but added barely 2-3000 sq ft with less hiding spots, less foliage, and no covered area like they enjoyed with the old grotto. Infact nearly every time I visit they are hiding from visitors right by the entrance to their holding area.
Old grotto replaced in 2015:
Size comparison:
The clawed otters were the only new species, and while the exhibit is fine, it makes no effort to hide the fencing unlike the river otters above, infact they highlighted them with a curved wavy steel design which added nothing to the exhibit, but surely added significantly to the price-tag!
Lastly and IMO the most damning was the renovations they undertook on the sloth (and former sun) bear exhibits. These are a pair of old grottos, and while not fantastic, they were decently sized and used to have extensive foliage and climbing opportunities. The renovations? To diminish the size of the exhibits by building a viewing window hut between them, and replacing the old trees and foliage with concrete trees and ghastly new fake rock which clashes with the old.
How it looked before:
Aaaand how it looks now:
Just some of my thoughts on the current trend of exhibit design, feel free to chime in. I was going to make this a post all about the trend as a whole, but I got sucked in with this case study so Im going to make a part two later on which covers more of the general trend with comparative examples. My point is that not all progress is good, it seems that zoos in the 21st century feel compelled to put out a new exhibit every few years to keep the public eye, no matter the quality of the display. Just because the bars and moats have been replaced with fresh mesh and wire doesn't mean that it is any better for the animals or the visitors, infact often to the contrary.
One of the two gorilla enclosures in question:
The Africa area has no weak points, this is the African Savannah exhibit with clever sight-lines hiding the hippo barrier in the foreground:
Huge Lion Exhibit with no obvious barriers and tall grass to lie in:
The fantastic Asia trail area (Orangutan):
Grizzly bear exhibit, part of the PNW trail, all the exhibits are large and barriers hidden:
River Otter with Mountain Goat in the background:
These were the up years, the pursuit of immersive educational exhibitry was at its finest hour. However over the past decade it has taken leaps and bounds backwards, a worrying trend away from these positive advancements in zoo design. I think the designer of the gorilla exhibit that started it all David Hancocks puts the recent developments in zoo design perfectly:
"Eventually zoos found their own version of “Landscape Immersion” with exhibits that look sort of natural, but most decidedly aren’t. Typically, now, zoo gorillas are held in exhibits that cost many millions of dollars more than the $500,000 gorilla exhibit we built in Seattle, which was then the largest in the world (but ridiculously small by wild gorilla standards).
Nowadays too many gorillas are still confined in spaces much too small, with no contact with living vegetation, and absolutely nothing to interact with except huge clumps of fake rockwork and vastly expensive concrete trees that are of zero value to them. So I think my Landscape Immersion experiments have essentially been largely a failure.”
I would like to believe that he is mistaken in it being a complete failure, he has surely achieved a great deal in shaping the zoos we know and love today, but he has a serious point. In recent years I have found myself appreciating those old exhibits which do immersion justice more and more, whilst being continually disappointed with the supposed "modern" zoo exhibits being unveiled in recent years, even at the Woodland Park Zoo.
The self described "zoo's most ambitious new exhibit project in nearly two decades" Bayan Wilds, a southeast asian complex featuring new Tigers and otter exhibits, as well as the slightly renovated sloth bear grotto's and a small aviary holding no new species. This strayed far and to the side of the design pillars they established in 1976, gone were the hidden barriers and immersive design. In with fake ranger station viewing windows, ugly fake trees, and gaudy black mesh fencing towering higher than the exhibit is wide and erasing any semblance of immersion:
This replaced the outdated grotto they previously occupied, but added barely 2-3000 sq ft with less hiding spots, less foliage, and no covered area like they enjoyed with the old grotto. Infact nearly every time I visit they are hiding from visitors right by the entrance to their holding area.
Old grotto replaced in 2015:
Size comparison:
The clawed otters were the only new species, and while the exhibit is fine, it makes no effort to hide the fencing unlike the river otters above, infact they highlighted them with a curved wavy steel design which added nothing to the exhibit, but surely added significantly to the price-tag!
Lastly and IMO the most damning was the renovations they undertook on the sloth (and former sun) bear exhibits. These are a pair of old grottos, and while not fantastic, they were decently sized and used to have extensive foliage and climbing opportunities. The renovations? To diminish the size of the exhibits by building a viewing window hut between them, and replacing the old trees and foliage with concrete trees and ghastly new fake rock which clashes with the old.
How it looked before:
Aaaand how it looks now:
Just some of my thoughts on the current trend of exhibit design, feel free to chime in. I was going to make this a post all about the trend as a whole, but I got sucked in with this case study so Im going to make a part two later on which covers more of the general trend with comparative examples. My point is that not all progress is good, it seems that zoos in the 21st century feel compelled to put out a new exhibit every few years to keep the public eye, no matter the quality of the display. Just because the bars and moats have been replaced with fresh mesh and wire doesn't mean that it is any better for the animals or the visitors, infact often to the contrary.
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