Primates At Play
Furniture for Great Ape House and Playground Equipment for Children
When Fredericks was commissioned to design modern furniture and toys for apes in a modern designed building at the Detroit Zoo, he used the concept of Design Thinking by studying the orangutans, gibbons, and chimpanzees at the zoo for months to determine their needs. For the material, he selected fiberglass and stainless steel for hygienic reasons and bright colors that the apes seem to like.
The modern-designed colorful furniture and toys for apes, and stainless steel and reinforced fiberglass objects are described as: monkey-go-round, double trapeze ring, trapeze pallet, climbing tree, mushroom seat and weighing scales, pallet stools, sleeping pallet, and spring exercising ladder.
This original Great Ape Exhibit was replaced by The Great Apes of Harambee Exhibit in the 1980s.
When Fredericks was commissioned to design modern furniture and toys for apes in a modern designed building at the Detroit Zoo, he used the concept of Design Thinking by studying the orangutans, gibbons, and chimpanzees at the zoo for months to determine their needs. For the material, he selected fiberglass and stainless steel for hygienic reasons and bright colors that the apes seem to like.
The modern-designed colorful furniture and toys for apes, and stainless steel and reinforced fiberglass objects are described as: monkey-go-round, double trapeze ring, trapeze pallet, climbing tree, mushroom seat and weighing scales, pallet stools, sleeping pallet, and spring exercising ladder.
This original Great Ape Exhibit was replaced by The Great Apes of Harambee Exhibit in the 1980s.
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Young gorilla climbs on the spring exercising ladder
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A young gorilla sits on a
weighing scale |
Multi-colored play equipment for great apes
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Multi-colored mobile play equipment for the great apes
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May 1955 Detroit Zoo publication featuring modern designed architectural rendering of the Holden Amphitheater and Great Ape Exhibit
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Two City of Detroit Zoological Park Commission letters allowing Fredericks to proceed with designing modern equipment for the interior of seven Great Ape Exhibit rooms
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Fredericks’s list of laminated fiber glass equipment in the Great Ape Exhibit rooms
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La Barre Associates invoice to Fredericks for fabrication and
installation of his equipment designs for seven Great Ape Exhibit rooms |
Playground Equipment for Children
After designing the ape gymnastic equipment and furniture at the Detroit Zoological Institute in the 1950s, Fredericks embarked on a new journey of designing school playground furnishings using similar modern concepts. He created small scale examples of a red spiral slide, a yellow slide, playhouse, swimming pool, and playground turn-around. Although they were never realized in full-scale to be placed in a playground, the Museum preserves and shares Fredericks’s maquette models. Had they been fabricated, they would have been very modern in design and composed of bright colored Fiberglas and stainless steel.
After designing the ape gymnastic equipment and furniture at the Detroit Zoological Institute in the 1950s, Fredericks embarked on a new journey of designing school playground furnishings using similar modern concepts. He created small scale examples of a red spiral slide, a yellow slide, playhouse, swimming pool, and playground turn-around. Although they were never realized in full-scale to be placed in a playground, the Museum preserves and shares Fredericks’s maquette models. Had they been fabricated, they would have been very modern in design and composed of bright colored Fiberglas and stainless steel.
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Playhouse design proposal
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Swimming pool design proposal
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360 DEGREE MALL SCULPTURE MODELS
These 360 degree videos are from objects in the exhibition.
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