The first world’s coolest dog house awards, architecture also needs to be “dog-oriented”

200 years ago, Goodwood Manor in the United Kingdom was famous for the top jockey club Goodwood. Recently, Goodwood has transformed itself into a large dog festival that attracts celebrities from the global pet industry – Goodwoof.

The inaugural two-day festival saw tens of thousands of people packed the estate with more than 10,000 dogs of all breeds and sizes.

The world's top canine athletes come here to kick off the event; canine behaviorists, veterinarians and trainers give free animal health workshops; talks on dog pop culture, exhibits honoring historical hero dogs, and plenty more Games, food, cinemas and other social activities are held here intensively .

So far, Goodwoof has become one of the most famous pet events in the world.

Next, go directly to the most talked about part of the festival – the "Dog House Design Award" Barkitecture.

Well-known Foster Partners, Rogers Stirk Harbour Partners, and LoveFrom, the new company of former Apple chief designer Jony Ive, are all here to compete.

The final auction of their competition entry raised £30,000, which was donated to the Dog's Trust, a pet charity.

These innovative kennel buildings reflect our growing intimacy with our dogs.

What is more noteworthy behind is our long-term neglect of pet housing design.

The construction competition of the dog class, creativity explodes!

Works completed by top architectural teams from all over the world have been sent to Goodwood Manor to participate in the campaign.

The design, construction, and procurement process of these works are all open, and the budget cannot exceed 250 pounds. It is all for the sake of the entry and popularization.

There were 17 finalists, all of them participated in the auction, and we selected 10 innovative works to share (the winner will be announced at the end).

【Dome-Home, the avant-garde house】

Design Team: Foster + Partners

It was also one of the most high-profile entries in the competition, and Foster + Partners called on British furniture maker Benchmark to handcraft the house out of cherry wood.

Its exterior adopts a geodesic structure, showing a wonderful geometric shape, like a luminous polygonal prism and an "alien egg".

Right in front of the house, there is a rectangular opening, which is also the entrance for dogs, and all the spaces inside are wrapped in removable soft fabrics.

This avant-garde and bold style is very "Foster + Partners" at first glance, and the visual cutting-edge is also its biggest highlight.

The fly in the ointment is that the squeezed space is slightly selected. Although it looks very safe, it may not be suitable for all dogs, because they can't stand up in it, but it may be suitable for corgis (no mean to look down on corgis) .

【The Nook, House of Diversity】

Design Team: Stanton Williams

This is a dog house specially prepared for urban migrant workers.

In our rental house of 20 to 30 square meters, every inch of space is important, and every square meter is also expensive, so this dog house is designed as a multifunctional "furniture complex" – it is both a chair and a It's a table, and it's also a dog's house.

At the same time, it can also be easily disassembled and assembled. The most important thing is that the dog can squat on the table or lie down under the table.

It can be described as "one arrow kills many birds with one stone".

【Simple House Love From】

Design Team: LoveFrom

This is the work of former Apple chief designer Jony Ive and Marc Nelson.

They broke the concept of the traditional dog house, simplified the house structure into an open shelter, then used plastic material to support the edges, put a soft quilt at the bottom, and added a stainless steel dog bowl outside the house.

It is still the familiar simplicity, smooth geometric lines, soft edges, and it looks extremely comfortable.

In order to make the dog better match the environment inside, I want to wear another Apple AirTag around its neck.

【The Doge's House】

Design Team: Linley

It was the most expensive dog house at auction at £6,000. Followed by Foster + Partners works auction 4600 pounds, the third auction price is LoveFrom 3800 pounds.

The price cannot completely define the level of the work. It is just the opposite of LoveFrom's dog house. The workmanship of Doge's House is gorgeous and complicated, and the cost may be much more expensive.

Inspired by the Doge's Palace in Venice, it features the same Venetian Gothic decor, paired with a luxurious and high-end interior that looks both imposing and classy.

Maybe the dogs will have a blind date in the future. This "mansion of the dog class" can also prove to some extent the strength of the family behind it.

【Future House Dog Pod】

Design Team: Rogers Stirk Harbour Partners

It's inspired by Star Wars, and the team says it's designed for future "space dogs."

Directly in front of the doghouse, a hexagonal panel has fallen down, turning into a "starship-style boarding ramp," making it look more like a boarding bay.

The outer aluminum shell forms a natural shade canopy, and there are four elevated structures under the feet, which keep the doghouse cool by airflow in summer and warm in winter.

This is where the Dog Pod is innovative : it effectively solves the temperature problem in the dog house.

After all, not every dog ​​born in severe cold and heat can have an air conditioner.

【House of Harmony Doggy Dome】

Design Team: Alice Wilson

What makes this dog house special is that it is a den for multiple dogs.

There are many dog ​​homes now, and Alice is one of them. She has a small greyhound and a slender Whippet at home. In order for them to coexist harmoniously in a litter, Alice uses semi-circular wooden strips of different diameters to intersect. , combined into two overlapping hemispheres, one large and one small.

The greyhound can pass through the gate and sleep in the small gate, while the whippet can only enter the gate. The two dogs can sleep well in different spaces, avoiding the cramped space.

It is also very easy to assemble, and everyone can choose different wooden strips to customize according to the height of their dog.

Now, every dog ​​can feel at home.

【Le Dogular, the Zero Waste Kennel】

Design Team: Hopkins

2019 marks the centenary of the Bauhaus movement, the modernist style that swept the world behind it, the design that highlights the essence, and the pure minimalism that still influences generations, including the architects of Hopkins.

Their zero-waste kennels are filled with dog lovers, and it was this year that the team pondered how the doghouse would have been designed if Le Corbusier, the founder of the Bauhaus movement, was still around.

Therefore, they created this dog house that emphasizes geometric shapes, unusually harmonious proportions, and has privacy and comfort as its core principles.

Bold and simple, it’s neat and clean, everyone can personalize it with their favorite color, and the plywood is affordable, lightweight, and quick to assemble.

It can be said that this is an unrestricted free dog house.

【House of Power Alfie's Attention】

Design Team: Joseph Ellwood, Six Dots Design

This dog house is even wilder.

It is a polyhedral shape with a pine wood structure that looks like an interstellar probe, but it is actually designed to satisfy the curiosity and challenge of dogs.

In this design team, there is an energetic springer spaniel Alfie. The owner can freely adjust the height of the dog house, set a threshold for the dog to jump in, the roof of the dog is empty, the owner can also set some small challenges, let the dog get snacks from the top, etc., to train the dog's sense of smell , dexterity and patience.

This dog house can bring exciting and interesting experiences to more curious dogs. After all, every dog ​​may have a hunter hidden in it.

【House of Mind One Woman and Her Dog】

Design Team: Hawkes Architecture

“When a lot of people design dog houses, they often ignore the real needs of dogs,” says Hawkes Architecture.

They also raised a puppy, Star, during the epidemic, and originally planned to make various sleeping boxes and dens for it, but in the end the dogs liked to sleep on the bed, "Actually, what every dog ​​desires most is to be close to it. family."

In the end, they directly designed a dog's "RV". The dog house was made entirely of waste and built into a mobile RV where the owner and the dog could play together.

There are also two buckets on either side of the RV, which can also provide clean water when the owner and dog parade anywhere in it, and this RV can also be a short-term shelter.

Making the building an interesting space for people and dogs to go in both directions is probably its brilliant place.

The house that understands the dog's heart the most is probably this one.

【Long House Bonehenge】

Design Team: Birds Portchmouth Russum Architects

As is the norm in all competitions, the champion is announced at the end.

Yes, it's coming, and this dog house by Birds Portchmouth Russum Architects is the first.

It was made for Illy, an English cocker spaniel who joined the construction team in 2014 and brings endless joy and energy to the staff in the office.

So they built this cabin for Illy. The entire house is made of bone-shaped wooden slats, light and airy, and the dog can enjoy plenty of sunshine in it, and the material is strong and sustainable, the team says it " will not break for 50 years " – it looks very Has the potential to be a family heirloom.

What's interesting is that it has a water collection tray on the top, which can rehydrate Illy at any time when it is thirsty, and can also collect fresh rainwater for stray dogs when the dog house is outdoors.

The judges also considered multiple criteria when grading the works, such as the exquisiteness of the exterior design, the sustainability of materials and use, the comprehensiveness of the dog's sensory and living needs, and so on.

In fact, each has their own specialties, but it is difficult to cover everything.

The design of these dog houses is actually a microcosm of human dwellings.

The inside is the living space of dogs, and the outside is our living space. In this seemingly limited miniature building, unexpected inspiration can actually be collided, but it is not easy to practice.

When the relationship between dogs and humans is getting closer and closer, we can also get more inspiration from living with pets from the creativity of these designs.

Architecture also needs to be "dog-oriented"

For centuries, the British have tended to put their dogs above everything else.

Charles Richmond, Duke of Richmond, said that dogs have been an important part of their family for centuries, and dogs can always be seen in the family portraits of every generation of Dukes.

In 1787, the third Duke of Richmond built a house for his dog, The Kennels, and installed a "central heating system" in it. The servants made a fire outside the house, and the warmth was transmitted to the house through large metal panels inlaid in the walls. Indoors, The Kennels was also called "the most luxurious dog house in the world" at the time.

As the most loyal companions of mankind, both historically and now, dogs are always with us in our lives.

iResearch's "White Paper on China's Pet Consumption Trends in 2021" also shows that in 2020, the market size of China's pet industry is nearly 300 billion yuan, and it is expected to rise to 445.6 billion yuan in 2023.

More and more young people keep pets, and it is still growing rapidly.

But in the common living space of dogs and humans, we may be accustomed to most things, but many of them may be disturbing and even painful places for dogs.

For example, compared to cats who like to walk and climb around, dogs like to live in caves. They have their own emotions and need their own personal space.

For example, every New Year’s Eve, when fireworks and firecrackers pierce the sky, it’s the moment when dogs tremble with fear and bark loudly, because they have sensitive hearing and can hear sounds four times farther than humans. They are very afraid of noise.

For example, dogs are not sensitive enough to color discrimination, and can only see a part of the wavelength range, blue, gray, yellow, etc., so the colorful environment we have bothered to create for them is not really meaningful.

"People love pets largely because they accept themselves unconditionally," American psychologist Harold Herzog once said . Dogs not only accept humans unconditionally, but also depend on people and are accustomed to accepting us. everything given.

Since dogs were domesticated from wolves to human friends, they have been passively adapting to the human environment, and their homes have also become accessories to human space design .

When more and more inclusive designs begin to improve our lives, perhaps we can also make these little friends live more and more comfortable.

In fact, in recent years, it has been seen that the concept of "pet friendly" has appeared more and more in our daily life, travel, and various pet products.

From a small example – in 2019, Ford used the noise reduction technology of the car to create a noise reduction dog kennel, which can protect the dogs from the stimulation of fireworks and let them sleep well during the Chinese New Year.

From a larger example – last year, the southernmost tip of Anaya built an innovative "kennel".

Through the staggered overlapping mode, the kennel has created 30 "boxes", which solved the problem of easy conflicts between dogs and dogs when they met, and avoided the eyes of dogs and dogs with the triangular outline. The internal design is also more conducive to dogs. They live independently.

Pushing it a little further, behind the pet-friendly design, Hara launched a special project "Architecture for Dogs" in 2012, and continued to travel around the world for the next 10 years.

This has also helped many people re-emphasize the living space of their dogs.

Kengo Kuma, Shigeru Ban, Kazuyo Sejima, Toyo Ito, and Ma Yansong in China and other well-known figures in the architectural/design world have all participated in this project.

They created 16 architectural designs and released a DIY drawing manual for everyone to work together to create a better home for dogs.

A key concept proposed by the project is: scale balance.

When Kenya Hara was seven or eight years old, he raised a Japanese silver fox dog, Chibi. He made a wooden nest for Chibi, but Chibi never lived in it, but always lay on the roof of the hut. He observed it for a long time. It took time to realize that Chibi had been lying on the roof because he could see the owner's eyes all the time.

Humans have always designed the surrounding environment according to their own scales, such as the height of stairs, tables, chairs, doors and other documents, all of which are determined based on human conditions.

Hara believes that if the environment is observed and imagined according to the perspective and scale of dogs, it may be able to open new doors for dogs and human architecture.

Indeed, in real life, either we pay no attention to kennels at all. For example, most of the time in the countryside, dogs are allowed to sleep on concrete floors and fields; or luxury kennels are prepared for dogs, which look beautiful, cute, Or funny, but most of it is our wishful thinking and dogs don't like it at all.

To design a good dog product, you must really start from the perspective of "users", that is, from the perspective of "people-oriented", to a "dog-oriented" perspective.

Of course, the living space of dogs is also a microcosm of our living environment.

This change of thinking and perspective is actually more conducive to our observation of the nature of product design, and then to improve more barrier-free and inclusive design, whether it is more convenient for pets or our own lives. Therefore, allowing dogs to live better can also improve our living environment and quality of life. The fact that dogs are happy in the buildings and environments they live in increases our joy and contentment – it's just that the frustrating point is that any progress that is not in the interests of humans itself usually has to be done from a self-interested perspective promote.

In fact, simply act to make our old friend happier, why not?

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