Join DOCOMOMO US/New York Tri-State as we explore the Docomomo 2026 theme, “Recreation and Play, with a trip to the Bronx Zoo for a tour of two notable Modern buildings designed by Morris Ketchum, Jr. & Associates. The tour will be led by members of the Wildlife Conservation Society’s Library and Archives, Exhibits and Graphic Design, and Operations departments who will provide insight on the buildings’ design, function, and continuing evolution as part of a thriving urban zoo. The tour will include viewing original drawings and other materials related to the buildings that are held in the Bronx Zoo’s archives.

When the New York Zoological Society opened the Bronx Zoo in November 1899, the site was defined by Beaux Arts-inspired pavilions designed by Heins & LaFarge around a central court, they could not have conceived of how zoo buildings would change moving forward to include a number of award-winning modern buildings over 265 acres. The Bronx Zoo, now run by the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS), has continued to evolve as trends in building and exhibit design, standards for modern comfort and safety, and new requirements for animal welfare make for ever-changing expectations and the upgrades and expansions that follow.

By the early 1970s, two Brutalist exhibit buildings debuted at the Zoo, the award-winning World of Darkness (1969) and the World of Birds (1972). Designed by Morris Ketchum, Jr. & Associates, both were innovative and unmistakably modern, providing unique environments to showcase the Zoo’s extensive animal collection, while making strong architectural statements at the building exterior. Writing in The New York Times in 1972, critic Ada Louise Huxtable praised the new additions, stating “Both buildings [World of Birds and World of Darkness] are impressive as art, science and theater. Together they add immeasurably to the unquenchable wonder and delight of this paradoxical city—so consistently capable of delivering the best that it bothers to do so only occasionally, and so rich in resources that it throws them away.”

Friday October 9, 1:00pm
Bronx Zoo (Bronx River Gate)
Transportation: 2/5 subway to Pelham Parkway or drive and park in Lot B
$10 Docomomo members; $20 general public

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This tour is part of DOCOMOMO US Tour Day 2026, a nationwide initiative exploring this year’s annual theme of Recreation and Play. Tours and events hosted by Docomomo US chapters, partners, and friends, will occur on Saturday, October 10th, and throughout the month of October.