Dudley Zoo

There are particular visual rhythms I seem to collect as photographs when out and about and so I thought it worth while putting them together as collections of patterns. I’ll leave you guessing what might also feature over the coming months but here’s the first: plaids.

Some are more obvious than others, and while you are looking, keep an eye out for the friendly robin. There’s a list of locations below for those who might be interested.

1a Botanical Gardens, Birmingham
1b Plot 8, our allotment, Birmingham
1c University of Warwick car park

2a Aeneas Wilder, Mead Gallery, University of Warwick
2b Heeley Rd. Birmingham
2c Olympia, London

3a Newtonmore, Scotland
3b Hastings
3c Dudley Zoo

4a Hockey arena, London 2012
4b Dudley Zoo
4c Llanthony Priory, Wales

Today we visited Dudley Zoo. Until today I had no idea that we had such a prized set of buildings of international importance only two trains and one bus away from our house! The great man of London Zoo’s penguin pool, Berthold Lubetkin designed this Modernist set of reinforced concrete buildings – Tectons, which were granted World Monuments Fund status two years ago. I include some photos but I recommend a visit to fully appreciate them. The Kiosk reminded me of Arne Jacobsen’s petrol station just outside Copenhagen, also from 1937, and of concrete – but that’s another story!

Lots of care and attention are still needed to get the Tectons back to their 1937 former glory, but they still represent an ideal and aesthetic relevant for today. I have only hinted at what to see there – I wouldn’t want to ruin your search, but the entrance is rather fantastic too. (I thought I ought to include some shots of animals seeing as it was a zoo trip! The penguins are another nod to Lubetkin.)