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.

White Jack, by Abramson Teiger Architects

White Jack suites the posh cat with a strong sense of minimalistic style. Conceptualized from the children’s game of jacks, the interior of the shelter is lined with red felt for feline comfort; while the exterior is finished in reflective white acrylic, making it an artistic conversation piece in any owners living room.

Ball of Twine, by Abramson Teiger Architects

Ball of Twine rescales the classic cat accessory, a ball of yarn or twine. Unrolling an entire ball of twine into a hollow sphere large-enough to house a cat, the string was cast in a resin to hold shape. The tail end of the string lingers near the entrance, providing moments of play along with rest.

CallisonRTKL

Colorful, shiny, and plush, CallisonRTKL presented a disco cat-hedral. The triangular shapes and patterns along with the color stained glass walls are inspired by cathedrals. Furthermore, the retro carpet ramp with a dangling disco balls at the top is likely to keep a cat moving all day and night. What will those crazy cats get up to in this space? More than likely not prayer services.

d3architecture

Usually warehouses and HVAS equipment is associated with urban dwelling rats, but d3architecture repurposes the stigma for their predator. Not necessarily the most aesthetically pleasing shelter, it is meant for street cats. It has a similar atmosphere to a hamster maze, and who hasn’t wished they were a hamster when it comes to those things.

Meow Miaow, by ES-EN-EM

Meow Miaow is a triangulated finished plywood shelter designed with the flexibility for both indoors and outdoors. Meow Miaow is a classic example of form follows function, as its form is eerily similar to a cat head. Cats can enjoy this shelter in nearly any room with discretion, as it aims to feel as much a home décor object as a shelter.

Flora-Gato, by Formation Association, Terremoto Landscape and Arktura 

Flora-Gato is an environmentally responsive shelter meant to be left in the elements for stray cats.  Covered in Spanish moss and Korean grass, it boosts both evaporative cooling and a thermal mass, respectively. Furthermore, the structure of the shelter is comprised of recycled plastic fibers, which is water absorptive to benefit the surrounding plants. The shape of the structure is also built to take the load of a sitting FixNation volunteer.

CanT WE ALL GET ALONG, by HKS 

CanT WE ALL GET ALONG at first seems to be a cynical death trap for birds to fall pray to cat predators. However, after reading HKS’s poetic artist statement it is obvious that the intention looks towards a catopia where cats no longer harm other living creatures for pleasure:

Sunlight filters through the slats of my den

Birds chirping just beyond in their pen

I could lunge, I could expunge

Instead I will laze, within this fish-house in a daze

Can’t we all get along just today

Come back tomorrow for another foray!

HOK

HOK developed a modular system of durable faux wood cylinders lined with a soft felt interior intended for a litter of kittens. Simultaneously, the variable materials and unit heights foster the exploratory characteristics of kittens, while the units as a whole come together to encourage play among siblings. These kittens may never want to grow up.

Knowhow Shop

Knowhow Shop envisioned the cat as a space cat-det, creating a simple-shaped shelter that invites cats to move in-and-out to explore the world within and without. The wood shelter resembles a lunar gem in shape and rests on a rough laser-cut surface that invites felines to paw and scratch to the moon and back.

Cat’s Win, Cat’s Win!, by Kollin Altomare Architects

Cat’s Win, Cat’s Win! is perhaps a foreign object in LA’s Dodger-land, being conceived form the Chicago Cubs iconic Wrigley Field “W.” However, the message of the structure reigns true to any cat fan, a shelter that uses natural materials to promote exercise, clawing, comradery, and shelter. No matter who your team is, Cat’s Win, Cat’s Win!

UnFurled, by Perkins + Will

UnFurled is a flexible space built as an interchangeable kit-of-parts. It’s plush inner-lining is ideal for lounging and scratching, while its stable eggcrate exterior ensures that the spiral playfully rolls in response to cat movements.

RNL (now Stantec)

RNL created a shelter that serves as a feline lounge space with a plywood base meant for stretching. The outer shell of the shelter consists of a single string woven between two wood arches, creating a clawing structure resembling Calatrava’s iconic bridges.

Catospher, by Standard Architecture | Design

Catospher is a spherical concrete pod with cat-operable wood slates around the opening.  The concrete mass stores the heat of the sun from the day to release at night in exchange for cool air to release during the day. The natural wood slates provide privacy or socialness, depending on the needs of the occupant and the owner.