| Zoological Gardens, Tête d’Or Park |
(Lyon, France) |
|
 |
|
The “African plain” is to accommodate the evolution spaces as well as the shelters for a number of animals: giraffes, ostriches, wild cats, zebras, and antelopes.
The architecture of the shelters clearly dissociates the envelope from the covering: the pleated roof seems to float over an enclosure of simple rectangular geometry. The absence of load bearing points within the enclosures provides a great flexibility, allowing the spaces to be partitioned freely. The pleated roof structures echo the flattened silhouette of the “acacias tortilis” of the African Savanah and the natural green canopy of the park. Large bays are integrated along the facades accessible to the public, their insulating glass and reflecting film allow the visitors to see without being seen.
The two buildings form a whole framing the landscape, inscribed in the natural “back drop” of the African plain. The oversailing roof structures both shelter viewers and animals, while providing a means of controlling direct sunlight in the summer.
|
|
|
