{RE}thinking the Doll House

"The vast majority of factors which influence decisions regarding architectural form are made for an architect by the surrounding environment. We are generally able to respond professionally to physical factors such as
topography, weather, and availability of materials or construction skills. Admirable design is often the careful and creative resolution of a site’s peculiarities. Many a potentially valuable architectural opportunity has however been horribly undermined by the problematic stylistic aspirations of a client. This is rarely a challenge which can be overcome by a single architect confronted by committed clients armed with a library of coffee table books and home magazines. The root of the problem is far deeper and sugar‐coated than one expects. Today’s clients are saturated from birth with imagery, much of it clichéd sentimentality, of hobbit homes and noddy houses. Fairy tales and
historical constructs presented to us from childhood establish a limited range of familiar forms, which we tend to accept as convention before we are able to critically assess their relevance to our environment or the modern world.
In this assignment students will be asked to engage with popular architectural iconography by designing and building a full sized doll house."


So... That was the brief that we were given... I challenged the brief... for 2 reasons... 


The first is that any building that I make to 'educate' a child about good architecture may be good today and disturbingly inappropriate tomorrow, essentially propetuating the issue. I feel that things like void, mass, light, shade, volume and scale are far more appropriate when educating someone in architecture. This allows architecture to be contextual and responsable, not in style and trendy...


The second is that I wanted to explore the programs more than simply making a cutting pattern of something that I could do by hand... I wanted to used the computer to generate a pattern that I put together... Success or not... Well, I learnt... which is as far as I'm concerned the key.. so Yes.. :)

Tell me what you think...