London Design Festival 2024: The Wonders of Barbie Never Cease

London Design Festival 2024: The Wonders of Barbie Never Cease

If you haven’t yet had enough of Barbie then you’re in luck!

Three pavilions in miniature inspired by Barbie

One of the more anticipated happenings at LDF 2024, “Pavilions of Wonder” is a life-sized installation featuring a trio of Mid-Century Modern-inspired structures that’s a bonafide homage to everyone’s favorite re-contextualized blonde.

life-size desert oasis exterior
This time, designer Nina Tolstrup of Studiomama revisits the architectural underpinnings of the Dream House concept.
The designer in the oasis garden

The result feels like Mid-Century Mod sans insulation. Wait, did those houses ever have insulation?

Design Pavillion exterior

Not that it’s really needed in the spiritual corollary of Barbie-land, which in actual fact must certainly be Palm Springs. Tolstrup makes no bones about the geographic antecedent. Echoes of actual elements that dot the desert include the “Infinity Garden’s” oasis landscape and implied surrounding mountain range; the corrugated MDF sheet walls of “Design Pavillion”; and the two-toned pink drainage cylinders that form the phantasmagoria of “Dream Pavillion.”

Detail of drainage tubes

There’s also the overall curvalinear silhouette and the way straight lines interact with circles, which is one attribute that makes Mid-Century Modernism so fun. It’s also the slap-dash feel: with ostensibly thin walls made from unexpected and occasionally found materials—and the easy integration of clever and surprising niches.

Doll visible through peephole
Woman looking at Design Pavillion

“Pavillions of Wonder” is co-presented by Studiomama, Visit Greater Palm Springs, and Mattel Inc.’s Barbie. It’s on the Strand Aldwych at London Design Festival through September 22. No tickets required—the public is free to visit and explore.

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