National Zoological Park
Grasslands Exhibit

Washington, DC
1994-1995

DDA’s Grasslands Master Plan established major interpretive themes, schematic design and capital improvement budget for fourteen related animal exhibits and visitor facilities on a challenging 11 acre site. Building on NZP Director Michael Robinson’s Bio-Park concept and active NZP team collaboration, the Plan integrates history, anthropology and art into the exhibit’s areas of exploration. Proposals for Prairie Plaza showcase a sod house and windmill, for example, overlooking the Buffalo and Prairie Dog exhibits. A bronze sculpture of a Triceratops becomes, likewise, part of the African “savannah”. Animal exhibits remain Grassland’s central focus, to be sure, and these are envisioned in the Master Plan as engaging multi special encounters.