Bosque Zoológico Fábio Barreto
RIBEIRÃO PRETO – SÃO PAULO
Rethink the Zoo concept
The concept of zoos has been widely debated, especially about its mission in the contemporary world. Discussing its role as a fundamental space for the conservation and preservation of species, education, and environmental awareness in a healthy and balanced place for fauna and flora and human beings, has become fundamental.
In this sense, the project carried out aims to analyze the current scenario of the Fábio Barreto Zoological Forest, identifying opportunities and challenges so that its vocation as an urban park is accentuated, proposing the resignification and modernization of its structures to adapt to the contemporary concepts of zoos and bio parks. The proposal aims to offer the city of Ribeirão Preto and the region a space for immersion and connection with nature and wildlife through innovative and memorable experiences, which guarantee a harmonious, healthy, and welcoming environment for fauna, flora and all users.
The Zoo Forest is inserted in the Morro de São Bento Municipal Park, which is a conservation unit in the middle of the urban center, preserving a significant fragment of native forest. The Forest area totals approximately 183,350m2
The work starts from an analysis on several scales, seeking to recover the historical aspects, to evaluate the tourist context of the municipality and region, the natural attractions, and the spaces of public use. The opportunity was identified to set up a new tourist scenario for the city of Ribeirão Preto by expanding and diversifying the existing activities in the Forest, as well as reinforcing its character of public use, strengthening the area’s vocation as a place of conservation and preservation of natural attributes and the importance of the park to increase the quality of life in the city.
The understanding of the local context, relations with the surroundings, accesses, existing infrastructure, situation of the enclosures, visitation dynamics and other points allowed the identification of the challenges and potential of the Forest.
Based on a benchmarking of zoos and bio parks established in the world, we developed the vision of the future, covering the concept and the Matrix of Activities and Uses Program for the Forest. Preliminary studies of the project were carried out based on the Vision of the Future, associated with the preliminary dimensioning of the necessary investments, and expected results with the implementation of the project.
The program was organized into four groups: Welcome center, with reception, ticket office, store, food and others; Zoological Center, with improvement in the enclosures and activation of tools and structures that enable a new dynamic of visitation, with a focus on environmental awareness and education; Japanese Garden Center, revitalizing existing structures; Adventure Center, opening up the possibility of implementing new attractions and carrying out activities immersed in the natural environment.
The reconfiguration of the enclosures prioritizes ensuring improvements to increase the welfare of the animals, in addition to promoting the dissemination of knowledge through the herd and the educational activities offered to visitors, providing new experiences that add value to the visitation and evoke different points of view in regarding the appreciation of species in the same enclosure.
Standard solutions were developed for each situation, relating the interventions to the review of visitation flows and routes, to the appropriate design of the barriers, to the expansion of the space for animals, among others.
The support units that will be distributed by Fábio Barreto Zoological Forest were designed with a 5×5 meter modulation, allowing different layouts and combinations of uses. They can house, for example, educational activities, toilets, kiosks with food services and other types of commerce. Its geometry allows the grouping of two or more modules to configure larger spaces, if needed.
