Zoo Dream

Humans are the spectators at a zoo, but have you ever thought the animals watch you too? In collaboration with Teb, a landscape architect, and a sustainability expert, we have re-conceptualized the zoo exhibit, for humans and animals to watch each other. This has precedent, in one of the great activities that children bring about from our public spaces- the petting zoo. Here, goats are touched, not fed, and sometimes even combed and massaged. People interact with animals on an equal basis and sometimes serve them.

Heavy Metal Goat

Also note the heavy metal goat, of France, who passed away recently. This goat enjoyed the vibrations and performance of touring bands on the DIY farm. Can we bring this posture to the public zoo? Maybe this goat liked heavy metal, but I would propose synthesizer installations as a solution for the fox enclosure.

The enclosure in question has a habitual path set into the terrain, probably by an animal psychology gone obsessive by being caged. Let's take this as a starting point, the habitual path. Can we modify it? Teb suggests that a red cedar tree can act as a beacon for a path, potentially extending its bounds. There is a shed that the neighboring tiger inhabits, unhappily. We propose to remove this tiger, tear up the fence, and extend the habitual path into the shed. The path is now for animals and humans, but it was initially etched by a fox.

remove tiger, alter habitual path, add stone altar

We're going to add a diversity of animals to the enclosure, ones that co-inhabit, such as deer. Now its almost ready. We extend the habitual path into the shed by planting red cedars there, as Teb suggested. We have buildings and grounds dig up an old stone altar from their lot, and install it at the apex of the path, inside the shed. This stone altar is wired up for sound, to facilitate synthesizer installation artists. Food, drink, and smoking are prohibited to keep the animals safe.

Now we blast open the fence to let the humans in.