The laest addition to the AAUGH.com reference library (not open to the public, sorry) is Architects for Snoopy, which is a catalog from a museum exhibition at the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts thirteen years ago. The MMoFA basically took over the exhibit that had displayed in a Paris museum (which the dressed Snoopy dolls found in Snoopy Around the World were decorated for), got rid of one part of the exhibit, and replaced it with models and drawings by fifteen architects (all of whom had previously designed museums) for Snoopy’s next doghouse.

The book features color photos of each design, along with text about both the architect and the design. Some are abstract and, at least to my mind, pointless (a vertically-oriented I-beam with a small slot in it which Snoopy is supposed to shrink himself to go through), some are goofy fun (a spaceship for Snoopy), and some show reasonable amounts of knowledge and attention to Snoopy. Perhaps the most obvious of the last category are a couple of different designs that keep the shape of the classic doghouse, but add windows through which you can see some of Snoopy’s famed fine art collection. One of those even has a ceiling painting based on that of the Sistine Chapel, only with Schulz reaching out and giving life to Snoopy.

Probably my favorite one of the batch depicts a careful cross between a doghouse and a biplane, something that one might sit upon and have some hope of it going into the air. Admittedly, it’s lack of weaponry would make it a prime target for the Red Baron…

It is an interesting book, at least worth taking a look through if you get a chance. It seems hard to find at an affordable price (although not impossible, as my ownership of it shows.)

Remember, the AAUGH.com book guide does include a page of museum catalogs.

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