27 Mar 2017
BIG designs yin-yang enclosure for Copenhagen Zoo's giant pandas
BY Alice Davis
Copenhagen Zoo has revealed it is working with BIG architects on a brand new panda enclosure that will be shaped like an enormous yin-yang symbol.
The new exhibit will house two giant pandas that China has offered to loan to Denmark, and will be built on the footprint of the zoo’s former elephant enclosure, which is now empty and will be demolished. The pandas will be delivered from Chengdu at the end of 2018.
BIG (Bjarke Ingels Group) is working on the design with another Danish firm, landscape architects Schonherr. The team has designed an environment as close to the pandas' natural habitat as possible, with careful planting of trees and bamboo to provide plenty of shade, as well as climbing trees, rocks, logs, waterfalls, pools and streams to provide stimulation.
The circular shaped facility divided into two halves, one for the female and one for the male panda.
“In the case of the two great Pandas, their unique solitary nature requires two similar but separate habitats – one for her and one for him,” said BIG founder Bjarke Ingels. “The habitat is formed like a giant yin and yang symbol, two halves: the male and the female, complete each other to form a single circular whole. Located at the heart of the park, we have made the entire enclosure accessible from 360 degrees, turning the two pandas into the new rotation point for Copenhagen Zoo.”
Construction on the US$22m (€20m, £17m) project will commence in November and take about a year.
“It’s part of our DNA to let everyone from zookeepers, to gardeners and vets, influence the design and function of the facilities to secure the well-being of our animals. The team understood our approach and successfully integrated it into their design process to create a world-class home for these adored pandas,” said Steffen Stræde, director at Copenhagen Zoo.
BIG has also been working with another zoo in Denmark, Givskud Zoo near Billund, on an "cageless" zoo, dubbed Zootopia.
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