Byera Hadley research reports
Rachel Couper / 2015
Animal Showcase
London, Paris, Berlin
Animal Showcase is an international study of the architectural history of early zoological gardens, amalgamating primary resources with historical documentation in order to create a comprehensive summary of the development of the architectural typology of zoological gardens.
The study examines the following sites; Jardin des Plantes, Paris, the London Zoo, Berlin Zoo, Hagenbeck Tierpark, The Smithsonian National Zoo and The New York Zoological Park. By tracing the architectural development of the six key zoological gardens this study identifies the architectural lineage of zoological typology and demonstrates the ways in which it has shaped the cultural expectations that exist in relation to the zoo today.
An analysis of this architectural custom is desirable as the zoological garden is a contested site, at the forefront of important issues such as animal welfare and animal conservation. There are many avenues for an architectural contribution to be made to the debate surrounding the future direction of zoological gardens and it is the intention of this study to provide the historical groundwork from which those contributions can be made.
