Resident critics · Studio Ding

Two cats, and
their very firm opinions.

The studio shares its workspace with two senior partners. They review every model before it leaves the office. Approval is conditional, and usually requires food.

2
Cats
7
Combined years
14
Naps per day
Loaves
Shiitake — small, devoted, and absolutely never done talking.
№ 01 · She / Her

Shiitake 香菇

Rescued · China

Tiny, devoted, and absolutely never done talking. Shiitake has something to say about breakfast, about your meeting, about that sound from three rooms away. She will follow you everywhere, love you fiercely, and then make a unilateral decision you didn't see coming. Deeply smart. Deeply opinionated. Deeply yours.

“She has the floor. She has always had the floor.”

Mantou — a white-and-tabby cat peering over a beige wall.
№ 02 · He / Him

Mantou 馒头

Rescued · China

Impeccably composed on the outside. A five-act tragedy on the inside. Mantou conducts himself with the quiet dignity of someone who has never once raised his voice — and doesn't need to, because his tail does it for him. Kinked since rescue, it curls and twitches with a candor the rest of him refuses to show.

“A prince. With a very honest tail.”


Their working principles
House rules
01

Every plan needs a sun spot.

An apartment without a south-facing window is, at best, a hallway. We have rejected three projects on this principle alone.
02

Built-ins must accommodate napping.

A shelf at 32 cm depth is a shelf. A shelf at 38 cm is a bed. The difference is significant and worth the millwork.
03

Hallways should always lead somewhere good.

Ideally a kitchen, occasionally a window. Never a closet.
04

Linen, wool, and oak are scratchable.

Note this in the FF&E specifications and inform the client. Marble is fine. Velvet is, regrettably, perfect.

For more frequent updates on their professional lives, see @shiitake.and.mantou.