|
Some lucky lemurs at the St. Louis Zoo may soon spend their days swinging, climbing and enjoying the outdoors in a new cage designed by sophomore architecture students at the University.
After researching lemur lifestyles and consulting with zoo officials, Albert Lam, Courtney Martin, Sarah Nurmela, Daniel Osuna and Nick Stoutt created the winning design for a wire mesh and wooden structure measuring 20 feet by 30 feet, 16 feet high. The team proposed a variety of spaces within the cage, including two main enclosures and several nooks and crannies. A slatted roof also is designed to offer shade at different times of the day while still allowing the lemurs, which are usually kept indoors, the benefit of an outdoor, seasonal home.
"We tried to consider issues of climate, constructability and feasible materials while designing something that actually could be built," Martin said. "We also considered how the lemurs live -- how they socialize and how they like to climb and jump -- in our designs for a nice, natural environment."
Stoutt added that team members were pleased to be able to use their design skills to benefit the lemurs. "We work so much on theoretical designs that have no possibility of being built, especially since it will be years before we finish our professional training," he said. "It is amazing to think that our cage very likely will be built behind the zoo's Primate House."
Zoo officials hope to secure the necessary funding and donated labor to build the new structure. Though visible from the path leading up to the Primate House, the cage would be used for those lemurs that are not part of the main public display area.
Initially, 45 students in the sophomore studio formed 10 teams, each of which designed a cage. The zoo selected a short list of designs and then chose a winner based on practicality, estimated construction cost, aesthetics, feasibility, durability and natural feel.
Ingrid Porton, the zoo's curator of primates, said that once built, the winning structure could be used to care for anywhere from four to 16 resident or visiting lemurs. She noted that the outdoor habitat would be ideal for the zoo's mongoose, black, ringtail, red ruffed and black and white ruffed lemur population.
"The outdoor cage will be such an improvement for the lemurs, who will be able to get out into the sunshine and take advantage of an enriching environment with the cage's various nooks, perches, swings and logs," Porton said. "The winning design was very well crafted and provides an overall structure that is strong, visually appealing and allows a variety of usable spaces for the lemurs."
Porton added that the partnership with the School of Architecture was invaluable. "We really learned a lot from the variety of proposals the students presented," she said. "All of the students' designs were really well done, and we plan to incorporate ideas from some of the other nine teams."
Gay Lorberbaum, affiliate associate professor of architecture, said the "vacation homes" for the lemurs provided a challenging project for the students, who initially roughed out their ideas in small-scale models, then created quarter-size structures and finally returned to making finely detailed, small-scale models to present in the competition.
Architecture students on the other two finalist teams were Becky Raup, Ryohei Saito, Richard Stewart and Amanda Verbeck; and Harriet Grindel, Megan McCreery, Matt Teichner and junior Jeff Russell, who is also majoring in engineering.
Lorberbaum teaches the sophomore design course with two other affiliate associate professors, William Wischmeyer and M. Jana Pereau. Wischmeyer said the studio traditionally selects a project that combines working with real clients and community service.
"The studio is designed to give the students an introduction to the world of clients, who provide a different type of feedback than the students customarily receive in class from academics and architecture professionals," he said. "It also emphasizes that architects have a responsibility to contribute their knowledge and skills to the community and work for the common good."
