The Architectural Nature of the Zoo: The influence of cultural ideas of nature on the architectural development of early zoological gardens.

Abstract

The aim of this thesis is to chart the influence of changing ideas of nature on the architectural development of early zoological gardens. A better understanding of this influence offers insight into the provenance of multiple perceptions of modern zoological gardens as a cultural institution. More specifically, tracing the correlation between ideas of nature and the architectural design of early zoological gardens reveals multiple characterizations of the zoo as a custodian of original nature, a place of scientific study, a source of moral education, a recreational theme park, a symbol of political power and a spectacle of exotic otherness. The structure of this thesis charts a range of ideas of nature against the design and development of a series of key zoological gardens. These include the Jardin des Plantes in Paris, the Gardens of the Zoological Society of London at Regent’s Park, the Berlin Zoological Garden, Hagenbeck’s Tierpark in Hamburg, the Smithsonian National Zoological Park in Washington DC and the New York Zoological Park. The treatment of specific architectural features in each of these zoological gardens, including site plan, circulation, landscaping, views, built form and materials, reflected shifting understandings of nature over time and fostered the development of multiple characterizations of the zoological garden. Much of the current scholarship addressing modern zoological gardens calls for a recalibration of their identity and purpose. Although modern zoos are understood as being healthy, educational ambassadors for wildlife conservation, they are also reliant on traditions of recreation, amusement, animal captivity and exploitation. This has generated multiple understandings of the rationale of zoological gardens, which in turn has been the cause of significant conflict and disagreement. The Architectural Nature of the Zoo offers insight into the core interpretations of the purpose of zoological gardens, and provides a solid historical foundation for future studies of zoological gardens, their meaning in culture, and their design. This thesis contributes a better understanding of the architectural design of the zoological garden as a cultural process and offers a unique perspective of the reflective relationship between architecture, culture and conceptions of nature.