Danish architect Bjarke Ingels Group (BIG) has designed a panda enclosure for Copenhagen zoo based on the yin yang symbol from Chinese philosophy.
The architect said its aim at the "Panda House" was to design a building that made it "feel like humans are the visitors in the pandas’ home, rather than pandas being exotic guests from faraway lands".
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According to BIG, the enclosure resembles the pandas’ natural habitat, so that they are as relaxed as possible when it mating season rolls around – persuading the bears to produce young being one of the trickiest aspects of keeping them in captivity.
The 2,450 square metre enclosure was designed in collaboration with Schønherr Landscape Architects.
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BIG said: "In the case of the two great pandas, their unique solitary nature requires two similar but separate habitats – one for her and one for him.
"The habitat is formed like a giant yin and yang symbol, two halves: the male and the female, complete each other to form a single circular whole. The curvy lines are undulating in section to create the necessary separation between him and her, as well as between them and us.
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The Panda House is due to open in 2018.
Images courtesy of Bjarke Ingels Group