Color: Black and White; Type of Image: Architectural; Medium: Photographic print
Type:
Photographic print
Architecture
Date:
1940
Category:
Historic Images of the Smithsonian
Notes:
Original negative number is 2085, but that negative has been lost.
Summary:
The Reptile House, opened to the public in 1931, was designed by Albert Harris and was the centerpiece of Director William M. Mann's new zoo. Mann sought to make the National Zoological Park the finest and most modern in the world. To that end, he and Municipal Architect Albert Harris traveled to Europe in the Spring of 1929 to study the latest in zoo design, focusing in particular on Reptile Houses. When completed, it was the largest building in the zoo, and was awarded the Best Brick Building of the year (by the AIA?). The building featured a highly ornamental marble porch entrance, decorated with reptilian figures.
Contained within:
Smithsonian Institution Archives Record Unit 95 Box 35 Folder 11