Architects design dolls' houses for charity
Architects including Zaha Hadid and David Adjey have designed dolls' houses for the charity KIDS
It can sometimes seem that, when it comes to designing buildings, the rule is the bigger the better. Renzo Piano's Shard has been criticised for the way it dwarfs many of London's other buildings, and Zaha Hadid was recently slated by Japanese architects who said her design for the 2020 Olympic stadium in Tokyo is simply too big.
It may come as a relief, then, to see that some of the world's best architects are also capable of working in a much more delicate, diminutive scale. A project led by the charity KIDS has asked 20 of the world's leading architects to design dolls' houses, and these big names, including as Adjaye Associates, dRMM, FAT Architecture and Zaha Hadid herself, have risen to the challenge of creating tiny buildings with aplomb.
Curated by property developers Cathedral Group, the project was inspired by the dolls' house that Edwin Lutyens designed for The British Empire Exhibition at Wembley in 1922 - using this very traditional children's toy to display the very best of modern architecture, craftsmanship, art and interior design.
In keeping with the spirit of the Edwin Lutyens dolls' house, the architects and designers have been encouraged to collaborate with contemporary artists, designers and furniture makers.
FAT Architecture has worked with Grayson Perry, David Adjaye with Chris Ofili, Guy Hollaway with Hemingway Design and Studio Egret West with Andrew Logan.
Each dolls' house - which fits on a 750mm x 750mm plinth - also includes a unique feature to make life easier for a child with a disability.
On 11th November the 20 unique dolls' houses, will be auctioned at Bonhams in London to raise money for KIDS.
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.
See all of the houses here and visit the website to bid for your favourite.
Allford Hall Monaghan Morris
James Ramsey and Lara Apponyi
Adjaye Associates
Amodels
Coffey Architects
Lifschutz Davidson Sandilands
Dexter Moren Associates
DRDH Architects
DRMM
Duggan Morris Architects
FAT Architecture
Guy Hollaway Architects
Zaha Hadid Archtiects
HLM Architects
Glenn Howells Architects
Studio Egret West and Andrew Logan
MAE
Make Architects
Morag Myerscough & Luke Morgan
James Ramsey and Lara Apponyi