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Post-Zoo Design: Alternative Futures in the Anthropocene

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Post-Zoo Design: Alternative Futures in the Anthropocene Post-Zoo Design: Alternative Futures in the Anthropocene by Rua Alshaheen A Dissertation Presented in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree Doctor of Philosophy Approved April 2019 by the Graduate Supervisory Committee: Renata Hejduk, Chair Braden Allenby Ed Finn Darren Petrucci ARIZONA STATE UNIVERSITY May 2019 ©2019 Rua Alshaheen All Rights Reserved ABSTRACT Public awareness of nature and environmental issues has grown in the last decades and zoos have successfully followed suit by re-branding themselves as key representatives for conservation. However, considering the fast rate of environmental degradation, in the near future, zoos may become the only place left for wildlife. Some scholars argue that we have entered a new epoch titled the “Anthropocene” that postulates the idea that untouched pristine nature is almost nowhere to be found.1 Many scientists and scholars argue that it is time that we embraced this environmental situation and anticipated the change. 2 Clearly, the impact of urbanization is reaching into the wild, so how can we design for animals in our artificializing world? Using the Manoa School method that argues that every future includes these four, generic, alternatives: growth, discipline, collapse, and transformation3, this dissertation explores possible future animal archetypes by considering multiple possibilities of post zoo design. Keywords: Nature, Environment, Anthropocene, Zoo, Animal Design, Future, Scenario 1 Paul J. Crutzen, “Geology of Mankind,” Nature 415, no. 6867 (January 3, 2002): 23. 2 Jamie Lorimer, Wildlife in the Anthropocene (Minneapolis, Minnesota: University of Minnesota Press, 2015); Frank Oldfield et al., “The Anthropocene Review: Its Significance, Implications and the Rationale for a New Transdisciplinary Journal,” The Anthropocene Review 1, no. 1 (December 3, 2013): 3–7. 3 Jim Dator, ”Alternative Futures at the Manoa School.”, Journal of Futures Studies 14, no. 2 (2009):1- 18. i DEDICATION For my beautiful mother, Majda, who taught us the importance of education early on. She has a strong reverence for knowledge and learning, and excels at all that she does. For my loving father, Isa, who is always immensely proud of us. For his endless support, and for his understanding of whatever eccentric project I choose to pursue. ii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS My dear husband deserves the first acknowledgment. He has been a strong, reassuring presence over the years, and did not hesitate to uproot our small family so I can pursue my PhD. Similarly; my beloved little one has provided joyful distraction and unconditional love. A big thank you to my committee, for their willingness to join me in this interdisciplinary, futures-based journey. My chair. Dr. Renata has been an attentive, patient, and enthusiastic guide throughout this endeavor. I am grateful for Dr. Ed for teaching me how to think about futures studies, and how to engage its vernacular without apology. I am forever thankful for his belief in my storytelling skills. Dr. Brad gave me hope from the outset that my inquiry was important and relevant, and helped me develop the major currents of this dissertation. Professor Darren’s openness to visual approaches and expert guidance has made my research joyful. Dr. James Dator, the reviewer of the first draft, contributed his excitement and valuable recommendations. Librarian Erika Lankton has been a skilled wrangler of new publications. And my appreciation extends to Corie and Jessica for their support and guidance through the administrative maze. Friends have propped me up on days when that was needed. For that, I am forever grateful to Shaikha, Esra’a, Lysandra, and Nadia. I am also appreciative of, my siblings for their unceasing support they send from overseas. iii TABLE OF CONTENTS Page LIST OF TABLES ………………….………….………………….…………………....…vi LIST OF FIGURES ………………….………….……………………..……….…..….…vii CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION………………………...…………..…………………..….…..……..1 Research Scope………………………………………………...……..……….....….2 Arguments For/Against Zoos ………………………………………..……..…...…6 2 DESIGN THEORY Zootopia ……………………………...……………...……………..……..………14 Artificial Nature………………………………………………………….…..……23 Animal Clients……………………………………………………………......……32 3 ALTERNATIVE FUTURE SCENARIOS Methodology….……………………………………..…………...……………..…56 4 ZOO HISTORY Tracing Spatial Mechanisms ……………………………………….......……..……61 5 SCENARIO ARCHETYPES Growth Scenario Archetype ……………………………………….……......…......83 Discipline Scenario Archetype ……………………………….…………………....97 Collapse Scenario Archetype ………………………………………………….....111 Transformation Scenario Archetype ……….………………………..…….….….130 Synthesis Scenario Archetype ……….………………………..…………...............144 6 EXCLUSIVITY AND INCLUSIVITY Human-animal Divide…………………………...…..……………..…...………...152 Animals as place making agents…………………….…………………...…..……167 iv CHAPTER Page 7 THE IDEAL SCENARIO Accommodating Multispecies…………………………...……………..…………177 Downsizing. …………………………...………………………………..….……199 Cohabitation…………………………...……………..………………..…………205 8 CONCLUSION Manifesto for Synurbic Space…………………………...…...……...…...…..……218 Greener on the Other Side?………………………..…...…...……...….....….……226 REFERENCES……………………………………….….……………………......…..…233 v LIST OF TABLES Table Page 1. Operational Definitions….........………………………………..…………………..…..…4 2. Scenario Synthesis ….....................................................................................................………144 vi LIST OF FIGURES Figure Page 1. Futurist vision of the animal ark………………………..……………................….....……1 2. Extended Model of Ecological Values………………………..…..................................……7 3. Measures of the Anthropocene………………………..….............………………...……27 4. Panorama view of Hagenbeck’s Tierpark………………………..….......………………36 5. Big Cat Crossing at the Philadelphia Zoo………………………..….............................….45 6. The search for a new zoo typology that is neither captivity nor the wild………….......…52 7. Considering new possibilities of zoo design………………………………........................53 8. Alternative futures scenario model………………………..…...................………………57 9. Scenario planning diagram………………………..….................……………….……..…58 10. Using historical and future feedback loops………………………..………….............…61 11. The bear pit at the Zoological Gardens in Regents Park….......................………………64 12. Spatial Mechanisms across zoo history ….........……………………………………65 13. Historical timeline of spatial mechanisms and animal archetypes ….........…………...…67 14. Award-winning Disney’s Bambi, that follows the story of woodland creatures.................70 15. Hannibal Crossing the Alps….........……………………………………………...….…76 16. The carcass of a baby mammoth discovered in 2007…............................………………80 17. Spatial Analysis of Alternative Zoo Archetypes….......................................…………....…83 18. Penguin Pool designed by Berthold Lubetkin….........…………………………….……88 19. Animal Kingdom Nighttime Activity (©Disney) …......................................................……89 20. Cecil the lion and his poacher….........…………………………………………..…….106 21. Hundreds of taxidermy displayed at Melbourne Museum…..................………….……115 22. Rendered image for the £20 million 'Memo' project….........…………………….....…122 23. A pile of American bison skulls….........………………………………………………128 vii Figure Page 24. Interspecies hybrids….........……………………………………...………………...…131 25. Three approaches to de-extinction….........……………………………...………….…139 26. Domestic/feral/city cats…...........................................................................…………….…169 27. One of several bears that inhabit the capital of Switzerland ….........…………….....…179 28. South Congress bridge bats, in Texas…...................................................................………193 29. Self-sustaining animal plug-in community….............................................…………….…197 30. Poster for the movie “Dawn of the Planet of the Apes” ….....................……………...227 31. Still image of the metropolis from the animated film “Zootopia” ….........……………230 viii CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION Figure 1. Futurist vision of the animal ark4 We are experiencing unprecedented rates of environmental degradation, habitat loss, and animal extinction. As much as we like to believe that the romanticized image of nature still exists, it is important that we prepare for the crisis ahead and consider adequate alternative environments. This dissertation raises questions regarding fake real vs. real fake environments, private vs. public habitats, generic vs. specific design solutions, global vs. local scales, and environmental sustainability among others. 4 Shigeru Komatsuzaki, The Ark of Space, 1968. 1 The overarching questions that this research undertakes are: • What is the ideal future archetype for animals in the Anthropocene? • How do we use scenarios to help work through possible green design futures? Research Scope This dissertation presents a unique contribution to the fields of architecture, environmental research, and futures studies. People from various professions are labeled as “futurists,” but architects especially “are truly effective in creating the futures—what they design and build often persists for a very long time, shaping, thwarting, and facilitating behavior for generations to come.”5 There is very little design research done on the topic of animal futures in the Anthropocene, and this dissertation takes the opportunity to tackle this gap in literature. “The era of climate change involves the mutation of systems
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