Army Corps Releases 2023 Cat, Infrastructure Calendar
The Portland District of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers recently unveiled a calendar for this year—featuring furry felines photoshopped into infrastructure projects across the country.
Among the 12 images included, cats can be using the Hills Creek reservoir as scratching post, batting at crane towers at the John Day Dam and “screaming” at excavators at a rehabilitation project at the South Jetty, among others.
“Engineering is not that exciting,” Public Affairs Specialist Chris Gaylord told TODAY.com. “We all believe that what we do is very important, and that’s the reason we don’t take our social media so seriously.”
For the past three years, Gaylord has used his creativity to engage the public in topics on social media that he says may otherwise get ignored, and it reportedly works.
“Our press releases get ignored, but on social we have a dialogue,” he said of using eye-catching artwork alongside educational captions to inform the public of everything from weather warnings to new projects. “I will use levity whenever I can — that’s what people enjoy. That’s not us dumbing things down; that’s us respecting and not taking for granted the attention of our publics.”
Mid-last year, a colleague reportedly shared a black and white image of cats on famous architectural buildings, and the “wheels inside Gaylord’s head began turning.” Dubbing the idea his “pet project,” he planned to photoshop cats onto the Army Corps’ own projects.
The Portland District of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers released its 2023 calendar which features giant cats photoshopped into landscape portraits of the Corps' best achievements.https://t.co/3YInZ7KaeW
— TODAY (@TODAYshow) January 10, 2023
As a result, last fall, the Portland District of the Army Corps shared multiple posts on social media featuring photoshopped cats across its projects with “incredible” public engagement, which is how the calendar idea was born.
“I chose 12 images and I tweaked the captions a little bit for each one,” Gaylord said, adding that his colleague Ben helped format the calendar design.
Gaylord said the calendar is a small token of appreciation for the support the Army Corps has received over the past few years, and it's “just for fun.”
“It’s hard managing a social presence for an agency like ours (and) people’s support makes it feel easier,” he said. “I hope people realize that, wrapped up in the loving embrace of this calendar is the reminder that we don’t take people’s attention for granted.
“We have things to say and messages to communicate, but we’re always going to strive to do that in a way that feels enjoyable and not bland and boring.”
The calendar, which can be found here, is available to download and print for free. Gaylord plans to create a 2024 calendar that features both cats and dogs, which he anticipates he’ll begin working on in the spring.
Cats Inspiring Architecture
Back in 2021, London-based Tsuruta Architects reported that it had completed a housing project in the south London neighborhood of Catford featuring thousands of cat faces.
Dubbed “The Queen of Catford,” the five quirky apartments sit just off the main road of the area’s Catford Center shopping mall. While the black-and-white feline statue that sits above the mall’s entrance isn’t included in the firm’s count, reports indicate that it’s been there since its opening in 1974.
“It’s become an icon for people,” commented Taro Tsuruta, the architect responsible for the new cat-filled apartment building in the neighborhood, at the time. According to Fast Company, the feline statue is what inspired much of his design choices for The Queen of Catford.
Including an estimated 27,620 cat faces, both inside and outside of the collection of apartments, the designs range from laser-cut perforations, door handles and embossed details. Many of the faces are also located in the building’s external staircase, which lends access to all five apartments.
The designs were created for the Catford Regeneration Partnership, a subsidiary of Lewisham Council with the aim of revitalizing the Catford Shopping Center and its surroundings. Designing a simple motif of a cat’s head, complete with pointed ears, Tsuruta reported that he used this decorative detail throughout all the residential structures.
Since competition, the apartments have reportedly gone up for rent. The money collected is intended to be used to further develop Catford. The project had also been shortlisted for the New London Architecture Award 2021 under the dwelling category.
