#HTE

A Beautiful Dog Run (With a Potential Materials Problem)

I have some issues with the design of this, but I cannot fault the intent. This is a dog run created by TANK, a design/build firm run by architect Naritake Fukumoto.

“This project was started for dogs that were sheltered and taken care of by an animal protection group,” they write. “Many of these dogs will not be adopted by potential families because of their size, breed, or temperament. In other words, they will spend the rest of their lives here.”

“It is our wish that these dogs be able to run around to their hearts content.”

“From the beginning we wanted to make sure every dog was able to find [companionship], so we tried to design with this in mind. This circuit is composed of knitted plywood, which stands in the copse and gives the space a lively aura.”

I like the look of the fence, and I appreciate that the designers were trying to do something nice for the dogs. My issue is that the material does not seem appropriate to the function, or that aesthetics has been prized over practicality. While the arches of this fence should indeed shed water, as all fences should be designed to do, we can see that the arches were created by kerfing the undersides:

I’m not sure what type of plywood they used, but even marine-grade plywood is not rot-resistant; over time these kerfs will admit water into the inner layers of veneer, so I think the fence may be short-lived. Additionally, replacing individual pieces may be tricky due to the woven nature of the structure.

That being said, I do find the fence beautiful and can’t fault the designers’ intention, and their giving publicity to the overall problem:

“There are about 20 million dogs and cats that live as pets in Japan, however about 70,000 of them are brought to shelters or animal protection groups, many of them by their original owners. More than 120,000 animals die every year. That means 300 animals are euthanized per day.”