Designing the Zoo's Message
By Research Scientist, Dr. Kathy Carlstead

Big changes are in store for Honolulu Zoo's exhibits. Our Zoo is currently undergoing an intense period of master planning that will literally change the face of the Zoo. From an expanded entrance, to a "pre-contact" depiction of endemic Hawaiian landscapes, to a "Discovery Zone" and "Rainforest Adventure Camp," the visitor experience in every part of the zoo will become an exciting mix of living animal habitats, graphic panels, hands-on exploration, photomurals, kinetic art, and climbing structures for exploration by kids. Most importantly, every element in our Zoo will have a message that integrates with the overall "story" the Zoo has to tell.

Several decades ago, for most zoos the raison d'être was the animal population-a zoo was its own excuse for being. Now, conservation education is central to what a zoo is all about. Zoos must provide the public with the inspiration and opportunity to make positive impacts globally and in their own community. Environmental interpretation involves translating the technical language of conservation biology into terms and ideas that people who aren't scientists can readily understand. And it involves doing it in a way that's entertaining and interesting. Good interpretation invites the visitor to see, hear, touch and do.

To that end, our Zoo has contracted the design firm "The Portico Group" from Seattle to work collaboratively with Honolulu Zoo Society and the Zoo staff to develop messages and themes for the Zoo's exhibits, and a storyline for the Zoo as a whole. The messages are clearly defined prior to the physical design of exhibits for animals and plants. Designers and interpretive specialists from Portico have already led 3 workshops in the last 5 months with local architects, city planners, and Zoo Staff. In addition, Zoo and Zoo Society staff meet weekly to further refine the concepts that have arisen from the Portico workshops.

So far, the design team has suggested rewording the Zoo's mission to reflect a primary emphasis on Hawaii: "to foster an appreciation of our living world with an emphasis on worldwide tropical ecosystems, by viewing them through the lens of the Hawaiian Islands." As the process continues we will be looking to find the best ways to present the topics of biodiversity, the interconnectedness of all life, Hawai'i's uniqueness and biological vulnerability, and how visitors can play a positive role in conserving biodiversity. Stay tuned as our Zoo metamorphoses into the 21st century!!