Shona Parikh
team mascot
Shona originally trained in the culinary arts under renowned chef Remy. Her culinary training took her to Paris, France where the splendor of the architecture inspired her to change course and pursue a career in design. Shona moved to Valencia, Spain to train under Santiago Calatrava’s famed cat El Gato Loco where in addition to learning architecture, she also mastered the art of chasing laser pointer dots. After her apprenticeship in Spain, Shona moved to Genoa, Italy to join forces with Cane Pazzo, Renzo Piano’s proud Pritzker Prize winning pet. Together, Shona and Cane Pazzo developed a new design for the most efficient dog legged stair configuration known to man. In 2014, Shona joined our firm to take charge of security and other canine affairs. Shona also takes a deep interest in building codes, specializing in locating Fire Hydrants as required by IFC Table C105.1.
Get to know shona
What is your favorite part of coming to work?
I would say the petting is my favorite part. After I settle down and check my emails, I like to go around the office to check in with all my staff members. The check-in process usually involves a lot of physical interaction with the staff. Most of my staff are good at providing me my daily recommended dose of petting but every now and then I need to nudge them with my snout. By the time I have checked in with everyone, its time for my siesta which I learned from my friend El Gato Loco in Spain. I will concede that besides the petting, I also enjoy my siesta quite a bit.
What is the one thing that you could change about the office?
I wish there were not so many visitors to the office. They are quite disruptive. Because I oversee security at Santulan, every visitor demands attention from me. Usually, a small amount of growling suffices to put the visitors on notice but often the visitors seem unimpressed by my growling and I must resort to out-and-out barking. As you can imagine the barking is not helpful, its disruptive to my staff and as my friend Cane Pazzo once told me, it is unbecoming and makes me look uncultured.
What kind of food do you enjoy?
I’ve been reading a lot of Michael Pollan lately and it’s prompted a real introspection regarding my eating habits. I’m working towards a flexitarian diet because it’s good for my coat and it’s great for the environment. The other day my chef made this bowl of yoghurt, rice, diced apples, & bananas all scrambled with a 4-minute egg that I found quite satisfying. But the recipe was clearing missing a certain je ne se quoi. I immediately recognized the missing ingredient and told her, “I know what this needs! Saffron! A little saffron would make this!” But all she heard was, “woof woof”. We clearly have a communication problem.