Dog Tunnel / Bed / Table Concept
I was inspired by a cat bench at the Young V&A, as well as a visit to some dachshund puppies, to make a round shaped dog cage—that also doubles as a tunnel attachment and possibly a couch-side table.
It’s pretty ugly, but I liked the concept the artist, Gerard Rigot, had along with it; to make furniture that mimics the way animals move. This thought is very useful for me in this context; I went from using things animals make in nature, now I think I’m moving towards making things that simply appeal to animal’s instincts. Maybe that’s what I was going for in the first place.
As an example, the most common ways a dog will lay down is either what owners call “splooting”, where the dog spreads its legs and arms out and lays on its belly. When it’s doing this, it’s usually not on a bed, but a cool surface, and it’s spreading itself out to cool down. In this weather lately, dogs will lay down very cutely, curling into a donut into a bed, or lap.
It’s not really a new concept to make pet supplies in this way, but it’s difficult to make something both practical and stylist—at least that’s how pet product makers make it seem. Like this bed—it’s kind of the inverse of what I’m making (cooling vs. warming behavior) but very practical rather than something I’d want for my dog, though I’m not slighting the designer () as it seems more of an at-home personal project for his own dog.
And though I think it can be very cute, especially for less “tame” animals like hamsters, I absolutely don’t want to make “real” furniture for animals but smaller (e.g. a couch that looks exactly like a couch, except cat-sized). All this in mind, I also want to make things that increase interaction between pets and owners in everyday life—that’s why I want to make it a table as well if possible, to look good in a living room space, but also make an owner more aware of things that belong to their pet; or feeling like the space is actually shared between pet and owner, not just the dog as an accessory to their home.
Quick sketch of how it would function; two doors, either in a L formation or on either opposite side, with a detachable tunnel option that can go back into the barrel. My initial thought for the door was a revolving sliding door but I think it’s too complicated to incorporate.
As of right now, this is ideally how I’d like it to look form wise, but probably a different surface design, with colors inspired by Ettore Sottsass / Memphis, as I also saw one of his furniture and learned about the group in the same room I saw the cat bench.
I can’t really say I have a specific reason for wanting to copy Memphis’ style onto my own furniture other than I really like it, so I wonder if I should include it in my CRP at all.
