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 architectureand 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

multispecies 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 Palásti (artist), Nicolás Penna (architectural historian), Julieta Pestarino (curator,

researcher), Patricia Roig Canepa (curator).