As we celebrate twenty years in the Zoo Design business at PJA, one needs to step back for a moment and really think about what that means. While it has been great to work on so many unique and interesting projects, I really think it is about the people we have come in contact continue…
A Playground in Nature: Longsha Zoological and Botanical Garden in China Authors: Patrick Janikowski, James Brighton, Joyce Lee, Terry O’Connor Summary Most of us went to a zoo at some point in our childhoods. In the earlier days, the animals were often exhibited behind metal bars, in small cages, barren of any furnishings. The exhibits continue…
A reprint of the PJA article in WAZA Magazine, Vol. 17, 2016: Future of Zoo and Aquarium Design. PJA talks about the design of a new zoo in Qiqihar, China. continue…
Over the past few months a number of news reports have hit the media announcing the unveiling of new zoo master plans. As a zoo designer, I am always interested in all of these new plans and how the chosen design firm physically laid out the new design and if it does or doesn’t make continue…
During the past few months, I have been seeing more and more references being made to a new type of zoo exhibit. This one consists of a trail made of steel and mesh and raised above the ground and visible to all the guests at some point in their zoo journey. This new “exhibit” has continue…
I’ve just been going over a number of articles on the Internet about people’s perception of what makes for good zoo design. As a zoo designer, I am always trying to understand what the “typical” zoo goer wants to experience during their trip to the zoo. During some of my “free time”, I search blogs, continue…
SING FOR THE PLANET WITH MARVIN GAYE Mercy Mercy Me (Ecology) Marvin Gaye Woo ah, mercy mercy me Ah things ain’t what they used to be, no no Where did all the blue skies go? Poison is the wind that blows from the north And south and east Woo mercy mercy me, mercy Ah things continue…
Over the weekend, a video taken at the Henry Doorly Zoo in Omaha, Nebraska, hit the internet and is getting a lot of play. It shows a family in a building with glass viewing, watching a troop of gorillas. A gorilla charges the window, jumps, and hits the window with his foot, breaking the glass. As continue…
Over the years we have received numerous emails and phone calls asking us what it takes to be a zoo designer. Do you need multiple degrees, architecture, landscape architecture, biology, zoology? What schools offer degrees in design with an emphasis in zoo design? When it was time to hire my first employee for PJA, I continue…