Fabó Beáta - Gall, Anthony: I came from the East to a City of Great Palaces. Károly Kós, the early years 1907-1914 (Budapest, 2013)
Kós' First Steps as an Independent Architect
HI Purchase of new animals, circa 1911 FÁNK fotógyűjtemény Ü A continental zoo, no date FÁNK fotógyűjtemény H Plan of the Great Rock BFL XV.17.d.328 KT szor 1/3-3 ■ Sketch design for the Great Rock BFL XV.17.d.328KT szor 1/13-5 (Transylvania)’. One of the highlights of the study trip was learning about the management practice of Karl Hagenbeck, who first came up with the idea of the dry-moat system. This method was subsequently adopted, wherever possible, in the Budapest Zoo as well. The basic idea was to present the animals in their natural habitat, not behind bars, but with a wide ditch between them and the visitors. Instead of small cages, the animals would be placed in an environment resembling their natural habitat: fenced-off areas with grass, shrubbery, trees, streams, lakes and rocks, rather than iron bars and barren floors. This also made it possible to present animals not individually but in groups, herds or family units, which, in turn, enabled visitors to study their behaviour and habits. In the year 1908 the Zoo had 195,288 visitors, which was at least pardy a result of hiring famous acrobat József Brunner. 1909 The two young architects began to draw the detailed plans for the buildings in late winter, so that construction work could start in the spring. They relied on the impressions gathered throughout their study trip - adapting these to the characteristics of the specific site. Having had the plans approved, they handed them in to the municipality on 9th April. Dr Adolf Lendl described the extensive construction work to be carried out in the May issue of the Municipal Bulletin, ‘Now we have the fully developed plans on our desk: for the houses of monkeys, birds, rodents, kangaroos, deer, buffaloes, giraffes, antelopes and pachyderms. These, as well as the palm house and aquarium - to be built on a separate budget - and the two artificial rock formations, already designed, and the lake, as yet to be transformed, provide the bulk of the new zoo. The rest is simpler, smaller-scale construction work, or the kind that allows for even a year's delay’. On 20th March the Zoo was closed to the public. The Municipal Engineering Bureau requested the building permit for the first seven buildings on 24 March, submitting to the council 56 sheets of plans. The permit was given as soon as one week later, on the 31st, for the House of Pachyderms, the House of Birds, the House of Monkeys, the Giraffe House, the Deer House, the House of Rodents and the Kangaroo House. After another 74
