Lubetkin had emigrated from Soviet-era Georgia to the United Kingdom in 1931, where he created the firm Tecton, whose first projects were for the London Zoo. Influenced by the Russian Constructivist sculptor Naum Gabo, brother of Antoine Pevsner (pioneer of kinetic art) and by the conductivist theories of the 1930s.
Lubetkin with the collaboration of engineers Ove Arup and Felix Samuely, in 1934, unveiled its famous spiral "Penguin Pool", quickly becoming an exquisite example of modern architecture. The result was a pair of ramps that intertwine, cantilevered over the elliptical pool and is considered a historical project, both in terms of architectural design and engineering.
Tecton's innovative design was unusually elegant and dynamic, and one of the first to better experience the possibilities of reinforced concrete, in situ in complex and load-bearing shapes.
Unfortunately, the pool, created by Lubetkin, has been empty for 15 years. In 2004 it ceased to be the home of the penguin colony, because the penguins contracted a bacterial infection called bumblefoot, by micro abrasions caused by walking on the concrete, and relocated to one of the zoo's duck ponds.
Lubetkin with the collaboration of engineers Ove Arup and Felix Samuely, in 1934, unveiled its famous spiral "Penguin Pool", quickly becoming an exquisite example of modern architecture. The result was a pair of ramps that intertwine, cantilevered over the elliptical pool and is considered a historical project, both in terms of architectural design and engineering.
Tecton's innovative design was unusually elegant and dynamic, and one of the first to better experience the possibilities of reinforced concrete, in situ in complex and load-bearing shapes.
Unfortunately, the pool, created by Lubetkin, has been empty for 15 years. In 2004 it ceased to be the home of the penguin colony, because the penguins contracted a bacterial infection called bumblefoot, by micro abrasions caused by walking on the concrete, and relocated to one of the zoo's duck ponds.
As so often happens, the problem was not the architect's original design, but the maintenance and subsequent reforms.
The controversy has arisen after the declarations of the daughter of Berthold Lubetkin, Sasha Lubetkin, to a local newspaper the Evening Standard and the answer of the conservative architect John Allan.
Lubetkin had consulted with the biologist Julian Huxley at that time to ensure that the design of the enclosure was better suited to the needs of the penguins, but as commented by John Allan, who wrote Berthold Lubetkin's biography and worked on the restoration of the Penguin Pool in the 1980s. The flaws of the enclosure the result of decisions made by London Zoo, rather than the designers.
"The original poolside paving was largely rubber, for the penguins' comfort, but was replaced by the zoo with concrete. In the restoration project we were required to apply a layer of quartz granules to the ramp surfaces for the benefit of the keepers but to the discomfort of the penguins," Allan wrote and also added that the enclosure had been originally designed for an Antarctic species of penguins who like to huddle together. The zoo switched to South American Humbolts, who prefer to burrow, rendering the original nesting boxes unsuitable.
Even though the Zoo has "no current plans" for Penguin Pool, and obviously, the structure now isn't suitable for penguins on welfare grounds, however a "more imaginative use" could be found.
