Interview with Architect/Designer, Warren Lieu

Do you belong to a cat?

I have 3 cats; Scuba, an 18 lb gray-white Maine coon. He is the giant of the lot - very intelligent & cagey. Rugby is a ginger domestic shorthair. He's a kind, dignified tomcat. And there's Hoover, a seal point Himalayan with an attitude - fearless and bossy. He has issues with most things. They're all about the same age, around 7.

What inspired you to design the Cat Cocoon?

I stopped buying furniture the day Scuba moved in. Being an architect, I just can't bear to see the cats going after beautiful furniture. Frank Gehry, Kittypod and architectural contour models were all influences on my design. Kittypod is brilliant - Elizabeth Paige Smith deserves lots of credit for her distinctive designs. I think the cocoon takes the Kittypod idea one step further. The design sprung from the subconscious because one day it just pop out in a sketch spontaneously. I think the point of distinction for the Cocoon as compared to the Kittypod, is that it is indeed a cocoon - the kind of hiding spot that cats naturally crave.

Do you think dog owners get more fashion-forward product choices over cat owners?

I wasn't thinking in a global-fashion-design statement for cats. I've never thought that cat and dog owners are in competition. Are they? Should they be? It does appear as though distinctive cat products are lagging behind the dog-driven pet market possibly because it is the perception that cats have fewer needs. It is kind of perverse that I am selling a $200 cat condo but think that a sweater for dog is silly.

How would you describe your approach to design?

We were all taught certain "proper" aesthetics in architectural school. It is as though aesthetic can be right or wrong. I think style is supremely personal and that good designs work only when they answer functional requirements while at the same time inject a little joy to the environment. With the Cat Cocoon, I was fortunate to create a design where form is function. I wasn't bogged down with a bunch of formalistic decisions that sometime can be seen as style. Observing cat behavior dictated the function and therefore the form. Cats are creatures with such pure, simple needs that any design this side of a cardboard box would suffice to endlessly entertain them. So another way of looking at the Cocoon is that it was designed to satisfy a personal whim.

What is your design background?

I have a degree in both architecture and physics. I am an architectural designer by profession however I admit, product design is fun.

Did you make a Cat Cocoon prototype?

I made one prototype. It took two weeks of cutting. Luckily, years of architecture model building made the X-Acto knife an extension of my finger. The process was not as boring as you may think, because I looked forward to the outcome.

How is the Cat Cocoon constructed?

The Cocoon is made up of 83 shapes laid out in five 4' x 8' sheets of cardboard. Yes, a laser cutter is the only way to produce the Cocoon. Unfortunately, laser technology is expensive which affects the price of the Cocoon.
 
The Cocoon reads as shades of brown and appears to be somewhat transparent when viewed from different angles. Was that part of your design?

I knew there would be gradation because I didn't orient the cardboard corrugation in the same direction. So the final striation pattern was an accident rather than by design. Instead, the outcome is subject to the most efficient layout of the shapes when they were laser cut. I also have a polycarbonate coroplast model of the Cocoon in process. Once completed, it should be very interesting.

Thanks to Architect/Designer, Warren Lieu who provided mycatsheaven.com the transcript of this interview.