Architecture for Fido: When Being in the Dog House is a Good Thing

Hot diggety dog house, now these are some cribs.

Architecture for Dogs, an exhibit that opens Friday at the Long Beach Museum of Art, braids practical with whimsical for a collection of inventive pet furniture. Designed by actual pooch owners, there's a doggie RV, a designer teepee, a dog crate on steroids—with house plants—even a dog bed that looks like a poodle (see for yourself in our gallery).

Curated by the Tokyo designer Kenya Hara, the collection is the result of bringing together what the museum calls "world-renowned architects and designers to examine the relationship between dogs and humans, to design and build habitats for man's best friend." The exhibition opened at the internation art show Miami Art Besal last year, but this marks its museum debut on an international schedule.

On its video, Architecture for Dogs says its aim is to "bring a new kind of joy in the relationship between a dog and human."

The exhibit is actually something of an ongoing event; it pairs the arts with business to cross-promote art and commerce in a polished and entertaining package. Beyond the art, there is an ongoing social scene at weekly themed Yappy Hours on Thursdays at the museum's outdoor restaurant, and a pop-up gift shop by the Long Beach and Los Angeles Pussy & Pooch Pethouse and Pawbar stores. 

Products  will be as low as $5 plus higher end items of $100 or more, some by commissioned California artists - such as design-centric scratchers, feeders, furniture, and what Pussy & Pooch spokeswoman Karen DeMarco described as a $600 "amazing dog pod." 

The exhibit's dog house and dog bed creators are merrily trying to spread the idea of building such designs to Do It Yourselfers.

"Through blueprints, pictures and instructional video,  anyone in the world can build architecture for dogs," they encourage on their YouTube. The collection's designers and architects invite people to post photos of their own creations at their site, where they are pictured with their furry sidekicks.

The Long Beach Art Museum is located at 2300 East Ocean Boulevard, Long Beach. The exhibit lasts through Sept. 1.