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      Benjamin Hale Architects extends light-starved Victorian home upwards and outwards

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      Welsh practice Benjamin Hale Architects has added two modern extensions – one made from pale brick, the other from black zinc – to a Victorian-era home in south London.

      The end-of-terrace house is located in Dulwich and previously featured a dim and dated interior.
      The ground floor extension accommodates a new kitchenWorking alongside local interior designer Hamish Vincent, Benjamin Hale Architects set out to bring natural light back into the plan and “engender a sense of calm and domesticity” throughout.
      The practice started by adding a pale, clay-brick volume to the rear of the property, incorporating a neglected alley that sat to the side of the plot.
      Skylights and Crittall doors help brighten up the room”An underused side return or side alley is a traditional feature of many traditional Victorian terrace homes,” the practice’s eponymous founder told Dezeen. “However, being on an edge plot offered a considerable advantage in this instance.”

      Inside, the extension contains a modern kitchen complete with oak cabinetry, pale terrazzo flooring and a central counter with a built-in cooker, where inhabitants can prepare meals.
      Fluted tiles decorate the breakfast nookA breakfast nook was set up towards the back of the room, its cushioned seating bench set against a fluted tile wall.
      Sunlight streams into the room from a skylight created in the room’s upper corner and the Crittall doors that open onto the garden.
      Eye-catching furniture pieces appear throughout the formal dining areaA new doorway links the extension to the formal dining room, where Vincent introduced a bold medley of furnishings. This includes a stripy timber table and a chandelier composed of a cluster of spherical bulbs.
      As many of the home’s original period features had been removed over time, Benjamin Hale Architects reinstated a grand marble fireplace in the room.

      Will Gamble Architects modernises London Victorian house with “soft minimalism” interiors

      Ornate coving was also fitted around the ceiling of the adjacent sitting area, which hosts a sofa and sculptural armchairs upholstered in creamy boucle.
      An oak staircase with a slatted balustrade leads up to a zinc-clad dormer roof extension, added at the request of the owners who wanted the home to have extra sleeping quarters.
      The space – which now serves as the primary bedroom – has wooden panels running around its perimeter and a large picture window that offers far-reaching views over the streets of Dulwich.
      Wooden panels envelop the principal bedroomEnsuite facilities were integrated into the room alongside a freestanding bath, snugly positioned beneath the roof’s eaves and illuminated by a small skylight.
      The project also saw Vincent infuse the property’s existing bedrooms with warmth and tactility, adding weathered stone pots, lantern-style lights, tobacco-hued surfaces and more.
      The room also has its own standalone bathThis isn’t the only Dulwich residence to recently undergo a revamp; a few months ago architecture studio Proctor & Shaw built a concrete extension for a terrace home in the affluent neighbourhood, better connecting it to its 57-metre-long back garden.
      The photography is by Pierce Scourfield.

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      Hallmarks of British pubs and French brasseries meet in Henri restaurant interior

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      French interior designer Dorothée Meilichzon has converted the restaurant of London’s Henrietta Hotel into an homage to Parisian bistros for chef Jackson Boxer.

      Set on the ground floor of the hotel’s 19th-century townhouse in Covent Garden, Henri serves classic French dishes with a British twist – and British produce – from grilled snails on skewers to a raclette burger au poivre.
      Henri is the restaurant of London boutique hotel HenriettaThe mishmash of influences in Boxer’s cooking is also reflected in Meilichzon’s interiors, where art nouveau details rub shoulders with the oakwood panelling and leather upholstery found in London’s public houses.
      “We have designed an interior that mixes the relaxed style of a traditional British pub with the elegance of a typical French brasserie,” the designer told Dezeen.
      The interior merges typical features of pubs and brasseriesGuests enter the restaurant via an informal bar area, where snacks and aperitifs are served on red Coralito marble counters.

      Bulbous brass lights and table lamps with scalloped shades informed by plum blossoms provide points of brightness in the dimly lit interior, chosen as a tribute to Covent Garden’s former life as a fruit and vegetable market.
      Meilichzon created custom seating banquettes for the restaurantForest-green paint adds to the cosy pub atmosphere, together with the dark timber wainscoting and the bar with its leather-upholstered stools.
      The entrance also introduces Belle Epoque details such as spherical lights and gridded mirrored panels to create a sense of continuity with the main dining room.

      Dorothée Meilichzon nods to Alice in Wonderland for Cotswolds hotel interior

      “We have used some art nouveau elements typical in a brasserie: the detail on the arms of the banquettes, frosted glass globes, Thonet chairs and bespoke organic suspensions,” Meilichzon said.
      Despite the restaurant’s small footprint, Meilichzon managed to squeeze in several banquettes with decoratively curved backrests and hidden cutlery storage, designed bespoke for the interior.
      The benches are finished in velvet and leatherNear the entrance, there are smaller booths upholstered in duck-egg blue leather and velvet, with a lacquered frame in a darker midnight hue.
      But as the space widens towards the open kitchen at the back, the palette becomes warmer and cosier with terracotta wall tiles and larger banquettes for sharing, finished in rust-coloured velvet with glossy red arms and backrests.
      The restaurant’s existing ceiling murals were retainedAccompanied by classic bentwood bistro chairs from Thonet, Henri’s marble-topped tables with their dramatic skirts were also custom-made for the restaurant.
      Ornamentation is provided by an eclectic mix of artworks and photographs, framed alongside several mirrors and blackboards listing the daily specials.
      Meilichzon also created custom marble-topped tables for the restaurantMeilichzon also retained the restaurant’s existing floral ceiling murals, hand-painted on-site by French artists, that provide a counterweight to the rigid grid of the honeycomb parquet flooring.
      Henri is the latest in a long line of collaborations between Meilichzon and the Experimental Group, a French hospitality group for which she has also designed hotels in Venice, Ibiza, Biarritz and the Cotswolds.
      The photography is by WeTheFoodSnobs.

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      Khan Bonshek arranges east London home around brick “spine wall”

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      Architecture studio Khan Bonshek’s founders have remodelled their own terraced house in east London around a central brick wall, carrying out the majority of the work themselves.

      Named Two Up, Two Down, the house was renovated and extended by Sabba Khan and Mark Bonshek, who founded Khan Bonshek in 2021.
      With the studio acting as client, architect and contractor, the couple aimed to rearrange the home’s interior and add small additions to make the most of the space.
      Khan Bonshek designed their own home in London”The house represents our guiding philosophy; how to make the most with very little,” the couple said.
      “Most expensive new builds are about packing in rooms and low ceilings,” continued Bonshek.

      “We’ve taken a volumetric approach. We sought to create expanse, have views beyond rooms and create something humble through spatial arrangement.”
      The house is arranged around a central brick wallThe studio removed all the existing internal walls in the terrace, which the couple acquired in 2018, before adding a central grey brick “spine wall” through the centre of the building.
      This wall supports the stairs, which are visible in the front room, and runs the full height of the home adding a natural, textural element.
      A rear extension was replacedTo improve flow and openness in the house, two small extensions were added. On the ground floor, the existing extension was replaced with a full-width brick addition, which now contains the light-filled kitchen.
      At the top of the house, the existing loft conversion was extended with the addition of a timber-framed dormer.

      Will Gamble Architects modernises London Victorian house with “soft minimalism” interiors

      To further improve the sense of space, the walls enclosing the bathroom and study on the first floor were replaced with curtains.
      In the bathroom, a section of the ceiling was removed to create a double-height space.
      A timber framed dormer increased the loft spaceDuring the demolition, Khan Bonshek salvaged materials, which were reused in the reconstruction.
      These materials were supplemented with accessible materials such as plywood and yoghurt pots along with salvaged teak, black marble and brass.
      A double-height space was created in the bathroomAccording to the couple, the focus of the renovation was to create a home that would be an enjoyable place to live in, rather than adding value to the property.
      “We were very clear from the outset that we were creating a comfortable healthy home, rather than an asset,” said Khan.
      “We need to get to a place where we change policy and attitudes around housing as assets and instead to places which offer a reprieve and comfort.”
      The stairs are connected to the spine wallKhan believes the home can be an example of how existing terraced houses in the UK can be upgraded and argued that the government should amend tax laws to encourage renovations
      Refurbishments in the UK currently incur 20 per cent VAT, levies that are not applied on new build developments.
      “We have a duty to provide housing from the existing stock,” Khan added. “Think about all the embodied energy and why that’s such a better option than demolishing and putting up lots of new buildings.”
      The home is located in east LondonOther London home extensions recently featured on Dezeen include a minimalist extension to a Victorian home and a Grade II-listed villa with a wood-filled extension.
      The photography is by James Retief.

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      Tutto Bene uses silk and glass details to create “artist’s loft” Cubitts store

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      Design studio Tutto Bene looked to surrealist artworks and Italian modernist exhibition design when creating the interior for this eyewear store in Islington, north London.

      Set in the Angel area, the 60-square-metre store belongs to eyewear brand Cubitts and features an interior concept conceived by Tutto Bene based on the architecture of the space itself.
      A 1960s glass and chrome chandelier decorates Cubitts’ Angel store”It’s a long, slim room with an atelier atmosphere due to the strong contrasts of light and shadow,” the studio’s co-founder Oskar Kohnen told Dezeen.
      “The atelier feeling immediately evoked a sense of being at an artist’s loft, this feeling of residential elements mixed with workshop-like rawness is what we wanted to embrace.”
      Design studio Tutto Bene referenced art movements and artworks for the interiorTo underline this feeling, the studio added decorative pieces that nod to different art movements throughout the space.

      “The individual elements of the store design reference surrealist artworks and Italian modernist exhibition design from the 1940s and 50s through play on perspective, rational spatial composition and painterly use of colour,” Kohnen said.
      Green silk panels were placed along an entire wallA skylight lets plenty of light into the Cubitts shop, which Tutto Bene reflected via glass details placed inside the store.
      “We didn’t want to over-complicate the dynamic of the space,” the studio’s co-founder Felizia Berchtold told Dezeen.

      Tutto Bene references Streamline Moderne in tiny New York eyewear store

      “Instead we placed monolithic elements within it that offer points of interest and grounding,” she added.
      “Each element speaks a clear material language. There are hues of greens and yellow, the transparency of the nile glass, as well as areas of black that balance the space’s abundance of natural light.”
      Glass details reflect light in the storeThe slim, rectangular store features glass shelves set against a backdrop of sage-green silk from fabric house Holland & Sherry along the entire right-hand wall, in another reference to art and artworks.
      “The long shelf stretching the entire length of the space represents an artist’s easel, as well as exhibition tableaus,” Berchtold explained.
      “The natural slubs and beautiful colour variation that the silk brings provide a reverent backdrop for the frames displayed on it, whilst being a quiet artwork in itself.”
      A black volume stores custom-made framesAlong the left-hand side, Tutto Bene placed black storage and display volumes, as well as Cubitts’ eye-examination room.
      Kohnen and Berchtold designed many of the furniture pieces personally for the interior, among them an undulating orange seat.
      The store is located in Angel, Islington”Most elements are bespoke pieces we designed, including the Uovo chaise,” Berchtold said.
      “Then there’s some vintage treasures such as the 1960s glass and chrome chandelier and a group of FontanaArte prism-like pieces that complement and contextualise our fixture designs,  as well as photographic works by Lee Miller, casting the store through her surrealist lens.”
      Tutto Bene has previously designed the interior of Cubitts’ first New York store as well as the steel-and-mirror Nightingale restaurant in London’s Mayfair.

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      James Shaw’s light-filled London home is almost entirely underground

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      Lumpy recycled plastic furniture and circular skylights characterise this sunken London house, which designer James Shaw concealed on a 60-square-metre plot for himself and his family.

      Located in a conservation area in east London, the two-storey dwelling was constructed by Shaw and his friend, architect Nicholas Ashby.
      James Shaw built himself a sunken but light-filled homeThe neighbourhood’s planning restrictions required the pair to build all but 2.7 metres of the building out of sight from the street level, resulting in a sunken home with a large basement invisible from the outside.
      An open-plan kitchen, living and dining area feature in this underground space, which has exposed concrete walls interrupted by large, floor-to-ceiling glass doors that open onto a small terrace with a dinky plunge pool.
      The designer squeezed a bespoke sofa into one of the irregular cornersShaw and his writer-curator wife Lou Stoppard chose eclectic interiors for the home they share with their baby daughter – a collaboration that began with the duo’s 2022 London Design Festival installation of clashing furniture, created to poke fun at the tensions that arise when couples move in together for the first time.

      Made by Shaw, the pear-shaped walnut table from the installation features in the living area, surrounded by spindly stacking chairs first designed by furniture brand Blå Station founder Börge Lindau in 1986.
      Veneered MDF defines the kitchen cabinetsA custom aluminium bookshelf stretches across the wall opposite the table, built by Shaw to fit the unusual space. The designer also squeezed a bespoke burnt orange sofa into one of the irregular corners, illuminated by a large circular skylight.
      Known for his Plastic Baroque furniture made from recycled and extruded HDPE, Shaw placed a lumpy two-tone blue lounge chair next to the sofa – another piece that featured in his previous installation.
      The bathroom features Anni Albers-style mosaic flooringOpposite the living and dining area, the rectilinear kitchen cabinets were finished in veneered MDF, while the fridge was also fitted with a knobbly plastic handle.
      Stainless steel and pale blue HIMACS make up the worktops – one of which is on wheels to allow for flexibility when hosting.
      Squiggly pear-shaped sculptures top the bedpostsAcross the basement, a combination of oak finger parquet and raised-access metal tiles were used to create contrasting flooring. The silver-hued tiles can be lifted to reveal extra storage.
      Also underground, the bathroom was designed with a playfully patterned mosaic floor informed by the work of Bauhaus artist Anni Albers, including an abstract illustration of the couple’s cat, Rupert.
      The mirrored bathtub reflects and enhances the intricate flooring, while another rounded skylight adds natural light to the space.

      WillemsenU submerges house under the ground in the Netherlands

      An extruded blue plastic bannister snakes up the staircase to the bedroom – the only street-level room in the house.
      The Shaw-designed oak and brass bed features bedposts topped with squiggly pear-shaped sculptures, while the thin timber wardrobe was hand-painted with decorative panels by artist Marie Jacotey, who completed the project on-site.
      The bedroom is the only street-level roomStoppard’s vast art collection features throughout the sunken home, including delicate paintings by emerging artists Lydia Blakely and Mary Stephenson and antique artefacts from various travels.
      Elsewhere in London, Shaw’s trademark plastic furniture has also been used for retail projects. Footwear brand Camper’s Regent Street store includes bumpy yellow shelving by the designer, and a Traid charity clothes shop in Shepherd’s Bush has a wiggly bench upholstered in unsold clothes salvaged from the Traid warehouse.
      The photography is courtesy of James Shaw and Lou Stoppard. 

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      Buckingham Palace’s chinoiserie interiors revealed following five-year renovation

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      Porcelain lions, nine-tiered pagodas and a lotus-shaped chandelier feature in Buckingham Palace’s newly refurbished east wing, which has opened to the public for the first time in its 175-year history.

      The east wing at London’s Buckingham Palace, which opened this month, houses a series of decadent interconnected rooms including the centre room, which leads to the palace’s famed balcony overlooking the Mall.
      Buckingham Palace’s east wing has opened to the public for the first time in its historyOriginally built by Edward Blore between 1847 and 1849 to “provide space for Queen Victoria’s growing family”, the wing encloses what was previously a U-shaped courtyard, according to the Royal Collection Trust.
      After five years of restoration work by the trust’s curators and conservators, involving the temporary removal of over 3,500 artworks and other objects, the wing has opened to the public as part of the palace’s State Rooms tours that take place every summer.
      The centre room features a lotus-shaped chandelierIt reveals an interior filled with King George IV’s 18th-century chinoiserie designs, which were transferred to Buckingham Palace after the 1850 sale of his seaside retreat – Brighton’s Royal Pavilion. Prince Albert oversaw the original decoration.

      The centre room features an oversized lotus-shaped chandelier finished in glass and lacquer, illuminating a large carpet with geometric floral patterns. Visitors can also find a pair of 18th-century Chinese imperial silk wall hangings.
      Nine-tiered Chinese pagodas feature in the yellow drawing roomA duo of Chinese pagodas with nine ornate tiers characterise the yellow drawing room, named for its sunny drapes and sofas, which includes hand-painted wallpaper that was “painstakingly” cleaned and conserved by the team.
      A “kylin clock” – complete with turquoise porcelain lions and a tiny Japanese hotei, or god of luck – also sits on the room’s gold-trimmed mantlepiece.
      There is also a clock decorated with porcelain lionsElsewhere in the wing, the 240-foot principal corridor spans the entire length of the palace and has a bright red carpet. Ebonised cabinets feature Japanese panels, which contrast with the various royal paintings by historical European artists such as Thomas Gainsborough and Franz Xaver Winterhalter.
      Striking motifs including dragons and gilded curtain poles can be found throughout the wing.
      Ebonised cabinets line the principal corridor”The pavilion’s contents – which reflected King George IV’s love of Asian art and design – were transferred to the east wing, inspiring the Chinese-themed decor of its principal rooms,” said the Royal Collection Trust.
      Visitors to the palace’s state rooms can also see the recently unveiled portrait of King Charles III, painted by Jonathan Yeo in bright red hues, housed in the ballroom.

      Opposite Office redesigns Buckingham Palace as co-living space for 50,000 Londoners

      The refurbishment is part of a longer 10-year reservicing programme at the palace, which includes improvements to the palace’s electrical cabling, plumbing and heating systems that have not been updated since the 1950s, according to the Royal Collection Trust.
      Architect Thomas Heatherwick designed a sculpture containing 350 trees and erected it outside Buckingham Palace to mark the late Queen Elizabeth II’s platinum jubilee in 2022.
      Visitors can also see Jonathan Yeo’s recent portrait of King Charles III in the palace’s ballroomAfter her death, writer Stefan Simanowitz and architect Antonio Pisanò also proposed a memorial garden that would have seen part of the palace’s gardens converted into a “natural sanctuary” for the public.
      The photography is by Peter Smith. 

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      Quincoces-Dragò & Partners creates “relaxed, seductive ambience” for Mayfair restaurant

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      Architecture studio Quincoces-Dragò & Partners has unveiled The Dover restaurant in Mayfair, London, which was informed by art deco design.

      The first solo venture from Martin Kuczmarski, formerly group COO at Soho House, the restaurant was designed to be “unpretentiously elegant” and have a “relaxed, seductive ambience”.
      The long, narrow restaurant was made up of a series of dimly-lit spaces that were designed to be gradually unveiled.
      The interiors feature extensive panelling in American walnutEntering from the street, the fully glazed reception area is separated from the restaurant with a dramatic velvet curtain in deep burgundy.
      On parting the curtain, a long central corridor leads – across a black and white marble chequered floor – past a bar on one side, and open-plan and banquette seating on the other.

      The chequered runway continues between the bathrooms and private dining booths, before ascending a few steps into an intimate wood-panelled dining room “reminiscent of a bygone era of fine dining”.
      Curved dining booths feature Murano glass chandeliers”The space itself is challenging – long and narrow with a major corridor connecting the main areas, which is where we ended up creating the most intimate booths of the whole restaurant,” David Lopez Quincoces and Fanny Bauer Grung of Quinconces-Dragò & Partners told Dezeen.
      The three private dining booths, in curved dark wood panelling, each feature a Murano glass chandelier by Venini.
      Curved wood panelling is used in the dining roomKuczmarski described the spaces of The Dover as “a buzzy bar, intimate dining booths, and then the main dining room”.
      “The shape of the space has become part of the customer journey,” he added.
      Kuczmarski worked closely with Milan-based Quincoces-Dragò & Partners on the design, aiming for a “contemporary art deco vibe” achieved through dim lights, curved American walnut panelling, contrasting textures and the chequered floor.
      Lighting fixtures are a mix of modern and art decoWood panelling is the main element in the restaurant, which the designers said “creates intimacy whilst nodding to tradition”.
      The curved panelling for the dining booths is echoed in curved corners and ceilings of the main dining room, which is a fully panelled space.

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      Velvet upholstery was chosen, in part, to manage the acoustics – a “fundamental aspect when designing the space”, Quincoces and Grung explained.
      The black and white chequerboard floor was made from nero marquinia and calacatta marble, which are both characterised by a veined appearance, softening the solid colour.
      Brass accents feature throughoutBrass lamp stands, with shades reminiscent of wood veneer, line the bar.
      The design of the interiors is “simple and straightforward when looking at it plainly, but rich with many details as you discover it piece by piece” said the designers.
      “The secret to good design is detail, detail, and more detail – and above all proportions!”
      Three private dining booths make up one area of the spaceRelief from the comprehensive wood-panelling comes in the form of red lacquered display cabinets.
      Wall lights with art deco glass sconces and a curved corrugated perspex panel in the dining room further break up the wood panelling.
      A curved corrugated perspex panel breaks up the wood panellingThe panel traverses from wall into ceiling in the dining room and functions as a “non-window” to prevent the space from feeling confined in wood panelling.
      With Kuczmarski, Quincoces-Dragò & Partners worked to create “an atmosphere that is welcoming – one that, as Martin says, ‘makes you feel good at first glance'”.
      The central corridor leads past the bar through to private booths and dining room beyond”The spirit of art deco – which is serious but playful, lush while elegant – inspired us tremendously when Martin spoke to us of his idea for The Dover,” Quincoces and Grung explained.
      Other Mayfair restaurants recently featured on Dezeen include Tutto Bene’s “sombre elegance” for the interiors of Nightingale and Japanese steakhouse Aragawa’s London outpost, featuring Rosendale Design’s paper pendant lights.
      Photography is by Matt Russell, courtesy of The Dover

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      Barbie exhibition aims to show toy is “worthy proposition from a design point of view”

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      The Barbie dolls and Dreamhouses featured in Barbie: The Exhibition at London’s Design Museum reflect shifts in visual culture over the famed toy’s 65 years.

      With over 250 objects on display, Barbie: The Exhibition opens today and examines the history of the doll since it was created by Mattel co-founder Ruth Handler in 1959.
      Barbie: The Exhibition opens today at London’s Design MuseumAccording to curator Thom, the exhibition was conceived to unpack the toy’s design influence over the last 65 years and explore the “myriad technical, aesthetic and cultural decisions that go into creating Barbie”.
      “What I would really like visitors to take away from the show, whether they’ve come as Barbie fans or Barbie skeptics but with an interest in design, is that there is actually a very complex and intentional set of design processes that go into creating the dolls and the accessories,” said the curator.
      A first-edition Barbie is included in the collection”And that intentionality does reflect the social context in which any given Barbie is being produced,” she told Dezeen at the Design Museum.

      “I want people to realise that Barbie is a worthy proposition from a design point of view,” she added.
      The show features dolls throughout Barbie’s 65-year historyCreated by architecture firm Sam Jacob Studio, the exhibition design includes iridescent colourful plinths and cylindrical toy packaging-style cases displaying past and present-day Barbies and their accompanying Dreamhouses and accessories.
      Among the collection is a first-edition, hand-painted doll from 1959, positioned next to archival footage of the earliest Barbies being manufactured in Japan. The exhibition also features Christie, the first Black Barbie designed in 1968, and the first Hispanic and Asian Barbie dolls created by Mattel.
      An entire section is dedicated to the evolution of Barbie’s hairThere is a specific section dedicated to the evolution of Barbie’s now 76 hairstyles available in 94 colours, crowned by a bespoke chandelier made of dolls’ hair.
      “In the 90s, I found that a lot of the Black Barbies had straightened hair,” said Thom. “Today, Barbies come with different hair textures.”
      “Obviously, hair play is fun. Children like to brush Barbie’s hair. But there’s more to it than that. How Barbie’s hair is represented is a way in which the importance of her is conveyed to children,” she added.
      The show highlights past and present furniture trendsBarbie dolls from the 2016 Fashionista line are also on display, which were created to include more body types and skin types. Launched last year, the first Barbie doll with Down’s syndrome also features in the show.
      “I think since the Fashionista line redesign, there has been a much more concerted effort to provide as many different visual frames of reference as possible in the doll line so that in theory, every kid can see something of themselves,” said Thom.
      “I’ve found that more recently, there’s that level of attention to cultural details,” added the curator.
      Sam Jacob Studio created the exhibition designElsewhere in the exhibition, a selection of Dreamhouses chart how architecture and furniture trends have influenced the Barbie universe.
      Designed in 1962, the first Barbie Dreamhouse is on display. Created entirely out of cardboard, the single-storey home features mid-century modern furniture similar to the designs of Florence Knoll, the late pioneer of the modern open-plan office.
      The first Barbie Dreamhouse didn’t have a kitchenWith the absence of a kitchen, the first Dreamhouse positioned Barbie as an “independent woman”, argued Thom, created at a time when it was “virtually impossible” for an American woman to gain a mortgage without a male guarantor.
      Visitors can also find the yellow-hued A-frame Dreamhouse from 1978, complete with a pitched roof and angular windows, which recalls the early work of California-based architect Frank Gehry.
      “It was a little avant-garde for its time,” reflected Thom. “The house doesn’t look very Barbie by our contemporary understanding of Barbie – no pink whatsoever – but these moments in Barbie’s design history reflect what was going on in the world of design,” explained the curator.
      Later Dreamhomes reflect more decorative architecture trendsLater architecture trends also feature in the show, with a Dreamhouse from 1995 revealing a return to more traditional American 19th-century motifs including corner turrets and decorative mouldings, with all-pink, “chintzy” sofas placed in the interior.
      “It’s this kind of colonial-style architecture with sash windows, a portico and vines climbing up the side,” explained Thom.

      Kartell recreates pink Philippe Starck-designed chairs to seat both humans and Barbies

      Shifts in fashion over the years are also acknowledged in the show, with various displays documenting Barbie’s many looks. There is a doll with a cropped hairstyle wearing a tiny version of a dress from the late designer Yves Saint Laurent’s 1965 Mondrian Collection, while a host of more “everyday” Barbie garments were arranged within a bright pink cabinet.
      Although Thom explained that the exhibition has been in the works for a few years, as opposed to a response to last year’s high-grossing Barbie film directed by Greta Gerwig, the show features a pair of fluffy pink mules and the multicoloured roller-skating look worn by actor Margot Robbie in the movie.
      “We had a fascinating, kind of informal chat with the set designers about their process,” said the curator.
      Select pieces from last year’s Barbie film were also includedShe also explained why the museum sought the exhibition design of Sam Jacob Studio.
      “We wanted to work with Sam because we felt that his aesthetic, which is obviously very pop-inspired, very playful and colourful, would be a great fit for how Barbie has been presented over the years.”
      “Almost all the objects in the show are tiny,” added Thom. “So we wanted to design something that gave her a sense of presence, and almost in some cases monumentality.”
      “We needed to come up with a design that worked with that, but also augmented it,” she explained.
      The show aims to present “Barbie as a reflection of culture””The idea that Barbie is a reflection of culture I find interesting,” considered Thom, who noted the inclusion of various dolls in the exhibition designed with specific “careers” – Barbie has had over 250 of them in her history.
      “Because it does suggest that her meaning, or meanings, are in the eye of the beholder – the eye of the consumer. And I think that’s one of the reasons for her longevity,” continued the curator.
      “I think there can be a tendency to write things off that might be feminine-coded or child-orientated, as being somewhat lesser when it comes to design,” she added.
      “Barbies are toys – they are mass-produced. They are designed first and foremost to be played with. But that doesn’t negate the possibility that they are important objects.”
      The photography is by Jo Underhill.
      Barbie: The Exhibition is on display at the Design Museum from 5 July 2024 to 23 February 2025. See Dezeen Events Guide for an up-to-date list of architecture and design events taking place around the world.

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