Architecture for Dogs is a very cool collection of structures designed by some incredible architects and designers. Not necessarily houses, these projects for dogs examine other variables and dilemmas. Within each project description you’ll read about design considerations that are normally never addressed, such as the goal of equalizing scale so that a small dog can be on par with its people. Or incorporating the use of your clothes so that your dog can feel comforted when you’re not around, aw. Or building with aluminum tubes to help cool down an otherwise too-hot pal. And the best part: the blueprints for all 13 projects are available to download for FREE and you can build any of them yourself! What’s better than that?

Designer Kenya Hara is the Director of Architecture for Dogs. Among other things, his work includes art direction for the awesome Japanese store Muji (which I always make time to visit at the JetBlue terminal at JFK), and he also designed both the opening and closing ceremonies of the 1998 Nagano Winter Olympic Games. As he explains:

“Architecture for Dogs, invented by architects and designers, is an extremely sincere collection of architecture and a new medium, which make dogs and their people happy. By looking at the diagrams or pictures or watching the videos, people all over the world can make these themselves. Dogs are people’s partners, living right beside them, but they are also animals that humans, through crossbreeding, have created in multitudes of breeds. Reexamining these close partners with fresh eyes may be a chance to reexamine both human beings themselves and the natural environment. As our first project, we present 13 pieces of architecture. Please take the time to carefully examine the details of these elaborately designed ingenious structures, and because it’s free to download the blueprints, if you find one you like, make it yourself for your dog.”

The Architecture for Dogs website is very entertaining, dogs walking through and interacting with the various structures. Each project includes a description by its designer, info on the designer, a difficulty rating and estimate of time to complete, and also a helpful diagram animation of putting it together. Even if you don’t see yourself as the DIY type, it’s worth taking a look at all of the various approaches and thought processes involved. You might even be inspired to dream up something yourself.

Visit Architecture for Dogs here. And turn up the volume!