Not a Penguin Pool Echoes of More-Than-Human Entanglements

In the summer of 1934, the London Zoo opened its new Penguin Pool. Designed by Berthold Lubetkin and the Tecton Company, in collaboration with Ove Arup, the elegant, interlocking concrete spiral ramps on which the penguins “showcase their social talents” was met with universal acclaim. In the years since, the structure has been celebrated for its iconic architecture—and has justly been criticized for its inadequacy when it comes to housing penguins. The collective research conducted in the framework of the Bauhaus Lab in 2023 critically reflects on the far-reaching constellations, geographical imaginaries, design discourses and material entanglements of this multi-species environment. Based on archival research and excursions, the publication unfolds multiple epistemologies of the Penguin Pool through a spectrum of theoretical, historical and cultural phenomena straddling the realms of architecture, historiography and more-than-human entanglements, while at the same time proposing contemporary gestures of co-habitation.

Regina Bittner (program director), Yujia Bian (artist), Daniella Camarena (architect), Sarah Kantrowitz (artist), Andrea Palášti (artist), Nicolás Penna (architectural historian), Julieta Pestarino (curator, researcher), Patricia Roig Canepa (curator).