In December of this year, the three giant pandas living in the Washington Zoo, in the United States, will have to return to China. In the first months of 2024 the same thing could happen with the four specimens present in Atlanta, after the San Diego and Memphis zoos also had to return their animals to the Asian country. Thus, for the first time in more than fifty years, there will not be a single panda left in the United States.
Similar cases have recently occurred in the Netherlands and Japan, and both the UK and Australia may soon have to send pandas living in their countries back to China. Zoos around the world that contribute to the conservation programs of these animals do not have their final custody, but rather rent them to China, paying between 500,000 and a million dollars each year, as required by specific contracts that establish that the animals will remain being the exclusive property of Beijing, just like puppies born abroad.
For decades, China has resorted to so-called panda diplomacy: it lends these animals for conservation programs of the species with the aim of winning the favor of countries with which it has good relations and, on the contrary, requests them back when These relationships get worse. The negotiating leverage is strong because giant pandas are few and everyone likes them.
According to some estimates cited by the South China Morning Post, pandas are the favorite animals of those who visit the zoos where they live and, therefore, also their main attraction. For example, in the two years after introducing two specimens in 2011, Edinburgh Zoo said it doubled its visitors and increased its annual income to around £5 million.
Two zoologists, Ramona and Desmond Morris, published the book Men and Pandas in 1967, in which they explained that their black circles, their polite way of sitting, and the lack of prominent sexual organs contribute to making this animal so attractive and easy to care for. humanize. As a consequence, we also experience a greater propensity to stereotype him and choose him as a symbol of indisputable docility.
It is no coincidence that the giant panda (ailuropoda melanoleuca) has been the symbol of the WWF for years and that China exploits its charm not only for its international relations, but also for the development of domestic tourism. The Asian country is home to the vast majority of specimens existing in nature and has been making enormous efforts for their preservation for decades. In the last ten years the giant panda population grew by 17 percent, reaching a total of 1,864 individuals. As of 2021, according to the Chinese government, these animals are no longer in danger of extinction.
There are currently 67 nature reserves dedicated to giant pandas in China, with the project to create a huge park that would extend across the provinces of Sichuan, Ningxia and Shaanxi. In Sichuan alone, in the southwest of the country, where most wild pandas live, at least 4,000 park rangers work to observe their behavior and evaluate environmental conditions.
One of the most fascinating projects, even from an architectural point of view, dedicated to the conservation of this species has been carried out in Chengdu, capital of Sichuan, within the Chengdu National Giant Panda Research and Breeding Center, the main research institute in the world for the protection of the giant panda. The Eid Architecture studio designed and built the Panda Pavilions, a major expansion of the park, recently opened to the public after suffering some delays due to the covid pandemic.
The architecture is organized around four circular courtyards, which serve as a playground for animals and provide a continuous connection with nature. Aiming to educate, entertain and inspire diverse visitors from across China and around the world, the four pavilions offer a cultural experience that combines science, education, art and entertainment.
Inspired by the natural landscape of Chengdu grasslands, the project is conceived as a fusion of architecture and context. The ring-shaped structures sit on the park's forested slopes and enclose a stepped outdoor space for the pandas. The connecting paths and terraced galleries offer visitors several relatively close observation points, but always with physical limits that separate animal space from human space.
The façades of the pavilions feature vertical joints composed of wood-grained aluminum fins, which reflect the vertical rhythms of the surrounding bamboo forest. The buildings are organized into three zones: open, semi-open and fully air-conditioned. About 55% of the area adopts natural ventilation to reduce energy consumption and carbon footprint. The design also features water nozzles placed around the pavilions to create a fine mist, as well as to maintain a favorable temperature and humidity level for the pandas.
“The design seeks the integration of human experience, architecture and the environment. It aims to be a convergence of architecture, landscape and land art. While the project provides visitors with a comfortable exploration experience, it prioritizes an animal-friendly environment and attempts to minimize alienation from ecology, promoting biodiversity conservation,” explained project director Ping Jiang.
Rising above the topography in some places and sinking into it in others, the pavilion rings house covered spaces for the pandas' dens and activities, as well as administrative areas for staff and support places, such as conservation rooms and storage of bamboo shoots, essential for the diet of mammals.
The facilities also include interactive exhibits and educational spaces dedicated to research and the study of animal behavior. While waiting for better times for panda diplomacy, these magnificent and fragile animals can be visited up close in their natural habitat, enhanced by avant-garde architecture.
