Humans of Waterloo Architecture: Rain Mäki

Architecture school is full of intriguing characters – big minds, lots of wit, familiar faces that mask a stranger’s untold story. As a response to this great individuality and as a nod to the famed Humans of New York series, the Humans of Waterloo Architecture project was conceived. This week, Danielle and Melody got to know Rain Mäki.

Last week, Peer Support Group brought a bunch of kids to our school for a few hours. The kids formed a circle and jumped around a lot, then we even got to pick up and hold some. Let me rephrase that, by kids I don’t mean the little children we all secretly act like—I mean goat kids.

Rain Mäki, their owner, who lives on a goat farm and owns over 500 goats! Not only does she balance her M.Arch thesis and farming, but also part-time work.

[BRIDGE] How long have you had the goats?
[Rain] We’ve had the goats for 5 years now. They’re fun to have around, but can be a bummer sometimes because they escape and chew everything. But in the end, they’re really gentle, loving animals.

[BRIDGE] What began your goat endeavors?
[Rain] I’m dating a farmer, who when we met wanted something to do full-time so he bought the goat farm. It has been an adventure because we had never done anything with goats before. It’s going really well! We both love it and are slowly growing the farm.
So now doing my masters, I’m trying to combine school with the farm, which is both challenging and fun. By combining the two, I feel that my time is more productive.

[BRIDGE] Could you tell us about your thesis?
[Rain] I’m designing a dairy goat research facility, which would be part of the rapid growing industry. In the design, I’m exposing the public to goats and analysing how they interact with each other. I want to see how people want to spend their time with goats and design a facility around areas where livestock is researched.

[BRIDGE] How many goats to you have?
[Rain] We have 70 to 80 kids and 500 adult goats.

[BRIDGE] Do you name any of them?
[Rain] There are a few that do because they have strong personalities, so it’s more for yelling at them.

[BRIDGE] Any fun facts about goats?
[Rain] They can jump extremely high, so they escape a lot by jumping over gates.
A lot of people believe that goats eat everything. It’s not actually true, but they do chew everything.
If you pet or hug a goat, its tail will wag to tell you that its really happy, like a dog.
They’re super playful and curious.