![\"\"](\"https:\/\/ilove.cat\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/01\/O5A5439-02.jpg\" "\\"_O5A5439-02\\"")
<\/a><\/p>\nAre most architects really dog lovers?<\/h2>\n– Where did you originally encounter Hatty?<\/h3>\n
\u201cOne day I came upon some newborn kittens in the garden of the university. Someone had already stepped forward to take two kittens, but three of them remained. I chose the weakest-looking of the three because I didn\u2019t think it would survive without my help. And that was Hatty. As a child, I used to sneeze like crazy whenever I visited homes with cats. So even though I loved cats, I wondered if it might not be difficult to care for a cat of my own considering my apparent allergy. But after doing a bit of investigation, I discovered that the cause of my sneezing back then might not have been cats \u2013 it could have been fleas or ticks. So I took her in and decided to give it a try. And though I was sneezing at first, it soon went away.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIt certainly is. The town of Kamata has a lot of stray cats, too. There is one stray cat we call \u2018Gy\u016b-chan, with black spots on white fur. He brings dead rats into our garden every now and then. Maybe he is trying to make moves on Hatty.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cShe has her own way about things. She\u2019s never afraid of strangers. She\u2019ll even interrupt meetings sometimes by climbing up on the table and laying down on the documents we are discussing. (laughs)\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cIs that so? I don\u2019t feel that\u2019s the case when I look around me. As for myself, the suspected cat allergy was what kept me away from coming in contact with cats when I was a kid. So Hatty is my first cat. And honestly, I\u2019ve never really liked animals that much in the first place. I don\u2019t think that I\u2019m good at taking care of things…\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWell I did like cats. When I was busy starting up my own office and feeling a sense of instability about the future, I often found myself thinking about getting a cat. And that was when I met Hatty. Moreover, I was working on the wooden apartment renovation project back then, and this structure was originally one of the buildings I was requested to renovate. I hit it off with the owner quite well and ended up just doing the minimal amount of work to turn it into our office. When it\u2019s an old property like this, we are usually allowed to renovate it however we like. So in that sense, there were no concerns about whether or not I could have a pet, so I went ahead and got her.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cHer real name is actually Harriet. I had lived in England for a while, so I asked my good friend from back then to think of a British-sounding name for her. He is a teacher, and he had three students whose names were Harriet. The interesting thing is that all three Harriet\u2019s had completely different personalities. I thought the multiplicity of the name sounded very cat-like, and I picked Harriet from among several names he had given me. So Hatty is her nickname.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cLiving with a cat is much more therapeutic than I had imagined. You see, if I had a dog, I would have to take it for walks. Having someone else take up my time is a stressful thing for me. Cats don\u2019t need that kind of care at all, so that makes it easy for me. That said, I had previously imagined cats would be more independent. But to my surprise, they also want attention. It\u2019s just about the right frequency, though – so I don\u2019t feel overly burdened.\u201d <\/p>\n \u201cI have much fewer things laying around the place. I used to have a vase on my desk, but I put that away because she\u2019d knock it over. I now put kitchen utensils away right after I\u2019m done using them, too. Because I had earlier thought that I was allergic to cats, I used to mop up the floor everyday. So I guess I\u2019m a bit more tidy than I used to be.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI discovered that my cat has different faces for day and night. During the day, she moves sharply and her face somewhat reminds me of a clown. At night, her pupils get larger and she takes on a different air – like she\u2019s a cute stuffed toy. Her mood swings are rapid. One moment she\u2019ll run around all excited, and the next moment she\u2019s on my lap fawning. I never quite understand what she\u2019s thinking. (laughs)\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWell she sometimes acts like a little sweetheart, and other times it\u2019s as if I don\u2019t even exist. I guess I can\u2019t really verbalize it well yet, since it\u2019s been only a short while since we started living together. But I can say it\u2019s a very relaxing relationship, at least. One thing I am concerned about, however, is whether or not being in the same house all the time is boring for her. Sometimes I get worried that maybe I don\u2019t play with her enough. I go out quite often and am not always at home. I wonder what kind of impact living pretty much the same life in the same house will have on her mentality. Do cats become bored? Since I\u2019ve only lived with human sensibilities all of my life, I can\u2019t really tell what would be best for each other \u2013 considering I\u2019m living with a strange animal who can\u2019t communicate through language. I am concerned about these sorts of things.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cTheir forms\u2026 the movements of their joints are so beautiful that I can\u2019t help but watch them. Also, she is round and all cute one moment, and the next moment she\u2019s looking sharp and standing tall in a somewhat divine pose\u2026 and showing a completely different aura. I get fascinated with the way her body moves in a variety of ways.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI bought some wooden boards thinking that I should maybe build a catwalk. However, she seems to be having plenty of fun just running around the stairs and all. So I guess I don\u2019t have to go through the trouble of building one. I haven\u2019t started thinking much yet about how I would refine the space for her. However, that\u2019s another project I\u2019m looking forward to.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWith the ordinary rental agreements of today, it seems difficult to have pets unless you arrange for a specific condition in the agreement. Society tends to set more and more rules to prohibit pets at the agreement stage. However, there are many houses out there that do not try to completely control pets, like the one I\u2019m living in now. So, I think it is more important to get these houses out to the market, rather than to think about setting new rules to increase the amount of housing that allows for pets. I think what is necessary is to build a society that works based on trust.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI think they worry too much about living neatly. Not all housing must look brand-new. Old housing has its own charm. And if the walls and windowsills are a bit dirty, you wouldn\u2019t mind letting your cat add some new scratches. It\u2019s no longer damage any more – but a kind of taste. We should take advantage of the accumulation of history within a house. This is what I learned from the \u2018Mokuchin Kikaku\u2019 project. However, no matter how hard you try to make an old house look brand new, you are not going to beat a real new house. That is why we try to bring out and maximize the charm in old houses. If we tried to make a space maintain a brand new look, it would be hard to have any animals there.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n– You use this house as both your home and your office. With the garden and everything, it seems like this is a confortable living environment for a cat.<\/h3>\n
<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n– What kind of character does Hatty have?<\/h3>\n
<\/a><\/p>\n– When we did an article on the exhibition \u2018Architecture for Dogs\u2019 by Kenya Hara\uff08https:\/\/ilove.cat\/ja\/9527<\/a>\uff09, we got this impression that most architects tend to prefer dogs over cats. We thought that perhaps professionals who do their work indoors, like musicians and writers, tend to prefer cats while people who work outdoors, like architects, tend to prefer dogs.
\n<\/h3>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n– Then why did you decide to get Hatty?<\/h3>\n
<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n– How did you come up with the name \u2018Hatty\u2019?<\/h3>\n
<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n– What is your life like with Hatty?<\/h3>\n
<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\nA cat with different faces for day and night<\/h2>\n
– What is the biggest change you\u2019ve noticed since Hatty came into your life?<\/h3>\n
<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n– Has living with a cat caused you to make any new discoveries?<\/h3>\n
<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n– How would you describe your relationship with Hatty?<\/h3>\n
<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n– What kind of charm is unique to cats?<\/h3>\n
<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\nFor the purpose of living with a cat\u2026<\/h2>\n
– Has there been any change in your housing situation since you started living with Hatty?<\/h3>\n
<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n– Considering the increase in the number of pets, there doesn\u2019t seem to be enough housing that allows for them.<\/h3>\n
<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n– Even with housing that allows for pets, some owners specify only small dogs and no cats – because cats scratch on walls.<\/h3>\n
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