As I explored it on my own, I saw other communities do what they call ‘dog builds’ and some of them call it other names. We just came up with ‘bark-itecture’ trying to play on the word of the architecture department and obviously with the dogs.
Architect students at Texas Southmost College put their talents to a good cause, designing some extraordinary dog houses that will be part of an upcoming fundraiser.
The students spent the past few weeks designing and building “bark-itecture” shelters that were showcased Wednesday at the ITEC campus and will be auctioned Saturday at the Rio Grande Valley Humane Society’s fifth annual Wine and Whiskers Gala.
Some of the dog house designs included the Tupic Teepee Tent, Bark Bunk, Hex Shade, Porch Pooch, 4 Pawz Only, and the Green Path, just to name a few.
Student Allen Garcia helped design the Porch Pooch and said being asked to help create a dog house was something different but that he enjoyed it.
“As an architect, most of the time you are mostly designing things. You are not really going to build it yourself but to be able to see the design process, being there and going through it, it felt very different than what we are use to. And I enjoyed it,” he said.
He said being able to help out the RGV Humane Society is good because it is going to allow them to raise funds to help out more animals and “allows more people to get dog houses as well for their pets.”
Professor Sergio Lainez, of the American Institute of Architects-Lower Rio Grande Valley Chapter, said the AIA-LRGV has a community service committee and that the committee met in February.
They floated several ideas around, and one of them had to do with the animal shelters, Lainez said.
“As I explored it on my own, I saw other communities do what they call ‘dog builds’ and some of them call it other names. We just came up with ‘bark-itecture’ trying to play on the word of the architecture department and obviously with the dogs,” Lainez said.
He contacted the RGV Humane Society to see if they would be interested in having the architecture students build the dog houses and the AIA-LRGV to see if this was a project it wanted to do.
Everyone agreed.
The students were paired up in teams and their ideas were combined into one. They met with architects, contractors and their peers who critiqued their work and told them what needed to be fixed or tweaked.
The architect students met up with the students enrolled in TSC’s construction program, who help with the cutting of the wood and putting everything together, Lainez said.
“Some of them (dog houses) really brought out their creativity. Without that creativity, we are not good designers or we are not good architects. The idea is for us to really come out and do something different,” Lainez said.
Maria Villagomez, development coordinator for the RGV Humane Society, said the non-profit was grateful for what the TSC students are doing to help raise money for the animal shelter.
“I had no idea that this would happen. I came out for the first draft, and now we are here for the final review. And it’s just amazing. These kids are so talented. We really appreciate their support, and we hope to partner with TSC for many years,” Villagomez said.
To see more, view Brownsville Herald photojournalist Denise Cathey’s full photo gallery here:
Photo Gallery: TSC architect students design dogs houses to benefit humane society fundraiser
