The starting point for the Negotiated project is Dudley Zoo, and more specifically the Bear Ravine.
Originally designed by the Tecton group, I must produce a video & printed response to the structure.
Photographs of the Bear Ravine now in 2012:
The Bear Ravine, along with other Tecton structures at Dudley zoo, are now unused and have been left in a state of disrepair since the 1970s. It is a very impressive structure with curved viewing platforms and a terrace offering views over & into the enclosure, which was adapted from an existing ravine. Originally the viewing platform was used for chimpanzee tea parties!
However, the bear ravine is not suitable for modern zoo keeping. The designs were intended to aesthetically please the visitors (and they were designed to be hygienic and easy to clean), and it has now realised that looking down upon animals is deemed unhealthy for them - as though the animals are being looked upon like prey.
On my first visit to the bear ravine, the structure has a depressing feel about it, many people don't realise the architectural significance of the old enclosures at Dudley zoo and ignore it completely.
The structure looks as though it has been abandoned.
The modernist, simple style is very contrasting with the ruins of the castle on the same sight.
The concrete has come away in places exposing the steel structure beneath.
It is covered in moss, and the ravine is no longer as deep as it originally was, showing that nature is slowing taking over and claiming it.
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