4th Annual Architects for Animals: Giving Shelter
Thursday, January 30, 2014 – New York, NY – More of New York City’s outdoor community cats will be safe and warm this winter thanks to the unique and ingenious shelters unveiled today at the Steelcase Showroom. Designed and donated by architects from nine top New York firms, the shelters are the creations of Architects for Animals. Their annual program and exhibition, Architects for Animals: Giving Shelter, now in its fourth year, supports the NYC Feral Cat Initiative of the Mayor’s Alliance for NYC’s Animals, which works to solve New York’s feral cat overpopulation crisis through the humane, non-lethal method of Trap-Neuter-Return (TNR).
Architects for Animals was founded by Leslie Farrell, Director of Client Development at Francis Cauffman Architects. Each year, architects recruited by Ms. Farrell work for months to create feline-friendly shelters that will ultimately be placed in locations throughout New York City, where trained caretakers oversee the feral cat colonies.
“Once again, the architecture community has demonstrated its enormous creativity and ingenuity,” said Jane Hoffman, president of the Alliance. “We are extremely grateful to these professionals for sharing their talents for the benefit of New York City’s community cats.”
Said Leslie Farrell: “No animals should have to live on the street, but while thousands are still out there, we want to do what we can to help. I applaud the participating architects for their imaginative creations and their generous donation of time. I hope their efforts will inspire others to join us next year.”
Among this year’s shelters, each of which can house three to four cats at a time, is Hairball, designed by M Moser Associates. The 3′ 0″-wide, 4′ 6″-high, 3′ 4″-deep shelter resembles a box-inside-a-box, with an outer shell offering protection from the elements and an inner shell providing space for sleeping. Materials familiar to cats, such as brush board, carpet, and sand paper, were used to make the structure, whose inner housing is an eye-catching bright red.
Another notable shelter is Time Machine for Kittens, created by Two One Two Design. This cube-within-a-cube featuring 16 vertices, 32 edges, 24 faces, and 8 cubes is insulated, and it has both open and closed resting areas, a scratch pad, and angled outer edges for increased visibility.
Also participating in the 2014 Architects for Animals: Giving Shelter are Carlton Architecture, deSoto studio Architects, Francis Cauffman Architects, Incorporated Architecture & Design, Zimmerman Workshop Architecture + Design, Bailly & Bailly, and Elham Valipay and Haleh Atabaki, co-founders of Mish Mish.
About the Mayor’s Alliance for NYC’s Animals®
The Mayor’s Alliance for NYC’s Animals is a 501(c)(3) non-profit charity that works with more than 150 partner rescue groups and shelters to offer important programs and services that save the lives of NYC’s homeless animals. We are supported entirely by donations from foundations, corporations, and individuals and receive no government funding. Since our founding in 2003, we have remained committed to transforming New York City into a no-kill community by 2015, meaning that no dogs or cats of reasonable health and temperament will be killed merely because they do not have homes. www.AnimalAllianceNYC.org
About Architects for Animals
Architects for Animals is a fundraising/awareness-raising initiative founded by Leslie Farrell. Architects for Animals: Giving Shelter is a one-night exhibition event that benefits the Mayor’s Alliance for NYC’s Animals. Participating architectural design firms build and donate creative outdoor winter shelters to provide NYC’s feral and stray community cats with refuge from the season’s freezing temperatures. These shelters are on display to the public at the exhibition and afterwards are donated to Certified TNR Caretakers who work with the Alliance’s NYC Feral Cat Initiative. www.architectsforanimals.com
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