Twenty architects and designers including Zaha Hadid and David Adjaye have designed and constructed dolls' houses, each integrating a feature that would make life easier for a disabled child (+ slideshow).
Property developer Cathedral Group enlisted a host of UK designers, including FAT, dRMM, Make Architects and Allford Hall Monaghan Morris, to come up with designs for the bespoke structures in a bid to raise £100,000 for disabled children's charity KIDS.
Referencing a dolls' house that British architect Edwin Lutyens exhibited in 1922, the brief asked each team to present a unique design on a 750-millimetre square plinth, which could then be sold at auction.
FAT worked with artist Grayson Perry on its entry, which takes the iconic form of Erno Goldfinger's Trellick Tower building and adds an assortment of colourful openings.
London studio Guy Hollaway Architects based its design on a jack-in-a-box toy, creating a simple house with an inflatable pavilion concealed inside.
A jigsaw puzzle provided the cues for houses by Studio Egret West and Make Architects, who created models that can be assembled in different configurations.
Coffey Architects created the heaviest structure, building a concrete house with rooms that can be removed like a classic shape-sorter toy.
Architectural modelmakers AModels and designers Morag Myerscough and Luke Morgan also took part. Their entries included a treehouse filled with models of Elvis and a house on stilts above a coral reef.
Other entries included Duggan Morris Architects, Dexter Moren, DRDH Architects, Glenn Howells Architects, HLM Architects, Lifschutz Davidson Sandilands, mae, RAAD Studio and shedkm.
All 20 will be presented for auction later this week with a target to raise £100,000 for the charity.
In other news, fashion designer Roksanda Ilincic has created the latest home for fashion doll Barbie, while Ikea has announced plans to produce miniature versions of some of its most popular products for children to play with. See more toy design »
Here's some more information from Cathedral Group:
Twenty of the world's best architects and designers build a dolls' house for kids
On the 11 November 2013, 20 of the world's best contemporary architects and designers will present their version of a dolls' house in an exhibition and auction at Bonhams in aid of KIDS.
The project has been curated by Cathedral Group Plc, an innovative and forward-thinking property developer and is inspired by the dolls' house that Edwin Lutyens designed for The British Empire Exhibition at Wembley in 1922 – using a very traditional children's toy to display the very best of modern British architecture, craftsmanship, art and interior design.
Participating architects and designers include: Adjaye Associates, Allford Hall Monaghan Morris, AMODELS, Coffey Architects, Dexter Moren, DRDH Architects, dRMM, Duggan Morris Architects, FAT Architecture, Glenn Howells Architects, Guy Hollaway Architects, HLM Architects, Lifschutz Davidson Sandilands, mae, Make Architects, Morag Myerscough & Luke Morgan, James Ramsey RAAD Studio with Lara Apponyi, shedkm, Studio Egret West and Zaha Hadid Architects.
In the same spirit as the Edwin Lutyens dolls' house, the architects and designers have been challenged to work with their own artist, designer and furniture-maker collaborations to make the end products even more special. Among other collaborations FAT will be working with Grayson Perry and Studio Egret West with Andrew Logan. Each dolls house – which will fit on a 750mm x 750mm plinth will also include a unique feature to make life easier for a child who is disabled.
Cathedral Group has pledged to raise £100,000 for KIDS to support their valuable work. KIDS is a UK charity supporting disabled children, young people and their families. They run home learning programmes, specialist nurseries and crèches, short-break programmes for disabled children and a series of inclusive adventure playgrounds. They offer a wide variety of services to parents of children with disabilities and programmes for siblings of disabled children and young carers.
A Dolls House has been kindly sponsored by Bonhams, Alno, Marley Eternit, Greenberg Traurig Maher, Realise Creative, Development Securities, Quatro PR, ING Media and Cadogan Tate.