Archinect - News

Tsuruta Architects hopes their new apartments will be catalyst for change in this London neighborhood

2021-09-24T18:45:00-04:00

A friendly fiberglass feline icon is being used as a catalyst for change in one London neighborhood, thanks to the incredible creativity and vision of one local firm.

Image courtesy Ståle Eriksen/Tsuruta Architects

Tsuruta Architects, recent winner of the RIBA London Small Project Award for the stunning Wooden Roof project, is behind the new cat-inspired design of five apartments in London’s Catford district, which has for many years suffered from a bad reputation as an area that’s prone to violence and frequent robberies.

Image courtesy Ståle Eriksen/Tsuruta Architects

Tsuruta is seeking to change the narrative with a fictional backstory that connects the apartments to the neighborhood’s local cinematic history as imagined by architect Taro Tsuruta and writer Chris Robert.

Image courtesy Ståle Eriksen/Tsuruta Architects

Taking as his charge as a highly visible sculpture of a cat that looms over the southeast London neighborhood, Tsuruta’s apartments feature over 27,000 laser-etched...

FixNation & Architects for Animals Fundraise with Cat Shelter Showcase

2017-10-31T13:16:00-04:00

Last week FixNation and Architects for Animals joined forces to raise funds for FixNation’s critical charitable services for Los Angeles’ homeless cats, including spaying and neutering (check out the projects from last year). To raise awareness cat shelters were designed and constructed by thirteen different teams of local architects (some comprising of singular companies, others collaborative), all conceptualizing different aspects of a cat’s life into the design. Also, 28 cat bowls painted by various celebrities, including but not limited to Clint Eastwood, Charlize Theron, Carly Patterson, and Kristen Bell, were showcased and are still being auctioned off to the highest bidders along with the cat shelters. To place a bid on one of the items from the event right meow click here. The evening with FixNation was purr-fectly cat-astic, from the shelters, to the hand painted cat bowls, to the cat themed desserts.

Meghan Bob Photography ©

White Jack, by Abramson Teiger Architects

White J...

‘Meowtropolis’: In ‘Kedi,’ A City of Cats Reveals Secrets of Urban Development

2017-02-28T17:32:00-05:00

Everyone in the neighborhood has a favorite cat—they give them names, personalities, entire narratives.

The story follows the saga of seven stray street cats in the city of Istanbul: Siri (the Hustler), Psikopat (the Psycho), Bengü (the Lover), and so on. Following these feline urbanites, who occupy a liminal space—not “in the wild” but certainly not tamed—we re-discover the essential qualities of grace, tenacity, perception, friendship, and independence that define the soul of the cat—and, it turns out, nurture the soul of a city and its residents as well.

LA architects design shelters for homeless cats – with adorable (and charitable) results

2016-03-22T12:51:00-04:00

To raise awareness and funds to address the 3 million feral cat population in Los Angeles, “Architects for Animals” recently tasked twelve local architects to design outdoor cat shelters. Their designs would then be put up for auction to benefit FixNation, a pro-spay and neuter nonprofit. Twelve firms in all, including HOK, Perkins + Will, Knowhow Shop, Standard Architects, RNL Design, Formation Association and more contributed designs – some of them deliciously whacky, others impressively practical to their feline program.

Check out the designs below (the model Tabby has already been adopted, so don't ask):

↑ Knowhow Shop

↑ HOK

↑ Standard Architecture & Design

↑ Lehrer Architects

↑ WORD + Schmidt Designs

↑ Perkins+Will

Check out the rest of the shelters in the image gallery.

Florida Southern's College's Stray Cats Getting Own Frank Lloyd Wright Styled Dorms

2013-02-13T00:05:00-05:00

Treasured for its storied collection of Frank Lloyd Wright buildings, esplanades and soaring fountain, Florida Southern College is making room for six more structures inspired by the famed architect. These new structures will be small — only about 5 feet high and 3 feet wide. Unlike other Wright designs, they are not meant for humans. Rather, the six domiciles built mostly of custom-made concrete blocks will provide shelter for almost 100 feral cats living on the Lakeland campus.