CENTRALA sees metropolitan zoological gardens as memorials of the (im)possibility of encounter. The concept of the zoo that has defined the relationships between living beings is collapsing. We need to design a new, post-zoo reality.
Project and illustration by Natalia Budnik and CENTRALA, 2019 with the use of View of Warsaw seen from the Praga side of the River by Bernardo Bellotto (Canaletto), 1770
A manifesto by CENTRALA and Natalia Budnik
We are proposing a city of new relationships between the wild, the human, and the domesticated—a Warsaw that needs no zoo. A city where animals are not isolated or concealed, and therefore an animal exhibition is redundant. A habitat where animal homes and human architecture have the same rights, where people live among other creatures in a shared environment, and endangered species protection programs are not the entertainment of others. The scale of the Warsaw zoo and its location by the migration channel of a wild river predestine it for an urban-scale hub dedicated to animals.
The area can be of support to the whole urban ecosystem rather than just serving to protect certain endangered species. Drawing inspiration from the biography of the terrain, we are proposing the Fauna District—a place where all of the city’s animals are hosted, where animals raised in the zoo live out their days, and where migratory animals, when the great migrations begin, will be able to find shelter. The Fauna District as Warsaw’s habitat biological centre will ensure new relationships and a resilient future of the community.
Within this framework CENTRALA is working on following projects:
- Habitat Warsaw together with Anna Ptak and Anna Czaban (Ujazdowski Castle Centre for Contemporary Art) – a speculative project dedicated to the city of the future understood as an ecosystem inhabited by both human and non-human species. As part of this project following events took place:
Mammalproof, 13.10.2020, Municipal Zoological Garden in Warsaw, an attempt to look at urban planning from the perspective of human-animal relations. Photo Michał Matejko, 2020
Mammalproof, 13.10.2020, Municipal Zoological Garden in Warsaw, an attempt to look at urban planning from the perspective of human-animal relations. Photo Michał Matejko, 2020
Mammalproof, 13.10.2020, Municipal Zoological Garden in Warsaw, an attempt to look at urban planning from the perspective of human-animal relations. Photo Michał Matejko, 2020
Mammalproof, 13.10.2020, Municipal Zoological Garden in Warsaw, an attempt to look at urban planning from the perspective of human-animal relations. Photo Michał Matejko, 2020
Mammalproof, 13.10.2020, Municipal Zoological Garden in Warsaw, an attempt to look at urban planning from the perspective of human-animal relations. Photo Michał Matejko, 2020
Mammalproof, 13.10.2020, Municipal Zoological Garden in Warsaw, an attempt to look at urban planning from the perspective of human-animal relations. Photo Michał Matejko, 2020
Mammalproof, 13.10.2020, Municipal Zoological Garden in Warsaw, an attempt to look at urban planning from the perspective of human-animal relations. Photo Michał Matejko, 2020
Mammalproof, 13.10.2020, Municipal Zoological Garden in Warsaw, an attempt to look at urban planning from the perspective of human-animal relations. Photo Michał Matejko, 2020
Mammalproof, 13.10.2020, Municipal Zoological Garden in Warsaw, an attempt to look at urban planning from the perspective of human-animal relations. Photo Michał Matejko, 2020
Mammalproof, 13.10.2020, Municipal Zoological Garden in Warsaw, an attempt to look at urban planning from the perspective of human-animal relations. Photo Michał Matejko, 2020
Mammalproof, 13.10.2020, Municipal Zoological Garden in Warsaw, an attempt to look at urban planning from the perspective of human-animal relations. Photo Michał Matejko, 2020
Mammalproof, 13.10.2020, Municipal Zoological Garden in Warsaw, an attempt to look at urban planning from the perspective of human-animal relations. Photo Michał Matejko, 2020
Mammalproof, 13.10.2020, Municipal Zoological Garden in Warsaw, an attempt to look at urban planning from the perspective of human-animal relations. Photo Michał Matejko, 2020
Mammalproof, 13.10.2020, Municipal Zoological Garden in Warsaw, an attempt to look at urban planning from the perspective of human-animal relations. Photo Michał Matejko, 2020
Mammalproof, 13.10.2020, Municipal Zoological Garden in Warsaw, an attempt to look at urban planning from the perspective of human-animal relations. Photo Michał Matejko, 2020
Mammalproof, 13.10.2020, Municipal Zoological Garden in Warsaw, an attempt to look at urban planning from the perspective of human-animal relations. Photo Michał Matejko, 2020
Mammalproof, 13.10.2020, Municipal Zoological Garden in Warsaw, an attempt to look at urban planning from the perspective of human-animal relations. Photo Michał Matejko, 2020
A walk and talk with Emilia Skłucka on the wildlife crossings over and below the expressway S8, near Warsaw. Photo Simone De Iacobis, 2021
A walk and talk with Emilia Skłucka on the wildlife crossings over and below the expressway S8, near Warsaw. Photo Simone De Iacobis, 2021
A walk and talk with Emilia Skłucka on the wildlife crossings over and below the expressway S8, near Warsaw. Photo Simone De Iacobis, 2021
A walk and talk with Emilia Skłucka on the wildlife crossings over and below the expressway S8, near Warsaw. Photo Simone De Iacobis, 2021
A walk and talk with Emilia Skłucka on the wildlife crossings over and below the expressway S8, near Warsaw. Photo Simone De Iacobis, 2021
A walk and talk with Emilia Skłucka on the wildlife crossings over and below the expressway S8, near Warsaw. Photo Simone De Iacobis, 2021
Further reading
Nieludzcy [Inhuman], interview with CENTRALA and Natalia Budnik by Aleksandra Kędziorek published in “autoportret” quaterly no 1, 2020. Download pdf (only in Polish).
Nie tylko człowiek, Aleksandra Litorowicz, Notes na 6 tygodni no 131, 2020
Zoo, CENTRALA and Natalia Budnik, from the Amplifying Nature, series of curated podcasts by CENTRALA for Architektura&Biznes, online 2020 (in Polish only)
Featured photo Barchacz Włodzimierz/National Digital Archives 44-39-3