Not a Penguin Pool

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).