Dec 20, 2021

Gingerbread City Returns To London For Christmas 2021

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SEW Gingerbread City Model 132 copy 2500px

The Gingerbread City™ is an annual exhibition where architects, designers and engineers create an entire city made of gingerbread.

The aim of the exhibition is to connect the public with architecture through an innovative display designed for the holiday season. The exhibition raises money to support the Museum of Architecture (MoA) as a charity and helps to create programming, exhibitions and events.

The MoA’s Gingerbread City features all the manor houses, town halls and skyscrapers as usual though, within the guidelines of this year’s theme of ‘nature in the city’, there are also meadows, parks and forests – as well as models showing the effects of pollution, flooding and climate change. This year’s exhibition took place at a new pop-up location near Knightsbridge.

The Honey-making Households

Re-wilding is all the buzz around this neighbourhood! Within our plot we have reimagined terraced houses as sanctuaries for bees, as a response to the critical issue of declining local bee populations.

The destruction of their natural habitats has been caused by human activity, and here's the stinger: wildflower meadows have declined 97% across the UK since the 1930s. It's time for Plan Bee.

Studio Egret West M2 The Honey Making Households

We can all do our bit: encourage wildness in our neighbourhoods and homes, reduce pesticide use, and regard our pollinators as friends.

We think our buildings were always meant to bee. Integrate wildflowers and bug hotels, and it's time for a house swarming party!

The studio took part in Gingerbread City's 2019 event which raised funds towards the Museum of Architecture's Grant Giving Fund that launched in Spring 2020 to support architectural entrepreneurship and public engagement.