Dogcific: Stylish Dog Crate

Dogcific is a dog specific crate designed for Rudy, a smooth, red dachshund who likes to take time to stop and smell the roses. He is a rescue dog who survives his previous owner and suffers from separation anxiety. A closely confined space calms Rudy during his time of solitude. His previous life was a decadent one, with his master by his side they would travel by land to the far reaches of North America, in order to maintain a dachshund comfortable climate of 72 degrees Fahrenheit, plus or minus seven degrees at 56% humidity during all seasons. This lifestyle was not at all frivolous, as Rudy was immersed and steeped in fine art, surrounded by Raushenbergs and other great artists of the 20th century. Needless to say, this is a difficult lifestyle to maintain but I do what I can. Hopefully his new domicile will captivate him during his captivity. For my greatest friend and companion. Dogcific was designed in collaboration with Zephyr Anthony. Parametric modeling tools were used to generate a custom pattern with a specific relationship to the shape of Rudy's body. The most remarkable characteristic of dachshunds is their low slung, elongated body. A tracing of Rudy's body in profile was used to generate a custom perforation pattern. The lines were imported to Rhino, a 3D modeling program. Using Grasshopper, a parametric plug-in application, we generated a grid of points projected onto a plane. A set of alternating repulsion and attractor points were laid out along the mid-point of Rudy's outline, whose strength were determined by the thickness of Rudy's body. These points distorted the plane to create an undulating surface. The distorted grid of points was then used to center a field of circles. Finally the diameter of each circle was determined by its proximity to the outline tracing of Rudy. Closest to the line are the smallest circles, measuring 1/8" in diameter; the circles gradually increase in size reaching a maximum of 1/2".