It’s a Barbie world: new book charts the evolution of the Barbie Dreamhouse

The Barbie Dreamhouse, America’s most adored dollhouse, is now celebrated with a definitive tome. In celebration of the house’s 60th anniversary, Mattel Creations and the architectural magazine Pin-Up have come together to release a 152-page hardcover design book that comprehensively charts the fantasy home’s evolution, from its first appearance in 1962 to its latest iteration in 2021. Filled with architectural drawings, original photography by Evelyn Pustka and a collection of essays and interviews with academics and designers, such as Kelly Wearstler, Rafael de Cardenas, the DJ/producer Honey Dijon and curator Alexandra Cunningham, the book is as legitimate an architectural study as that of any other iconic home.

Barbie Dreamhouse, the definitive book

Written and edited by Pin-Up founder Felix Burrichter and writer/brand semiotician Whitney Mallett, Barbie Dreamhouse: An Architectural Survey celebrates Barbie’s boundary-pushing appeal that has transcended the worlds of fashion, design, style, culture and anthropology. 

The Dreamhouse is acknowledged as a model for architecture throughout the course of its existence, always pushing the benchmark of possibility that Barbie herself has long inspired. Breaking with traditional dollhouse conventions since its inception, the Dollhouse design has reiterated Barbie’s independence in each version, while reflecting the lifestyle trends of the times. From a midcentury modern bungalow to a fanciful, all-pink townhouse in the 1990s and then the equally exuberant fun tower, whose elevator now notably fits a wheelchair and is plastered with scenographies that would be as perfect for a Zoom background as they are for recording TikTok videos, the house continues to accurately sum up contemporary design and domestic ideals. As fantastical as it may appear, it truly is a Barbie world and we’re just living in a fraction of it.

‘Pin-Up’s Barbie Dreamhouse book explores the machinations of our collective domestic fantasies through the mix of architectural history and popular culture,’ say Burrichter and Mallett. ‘Since the first Dreamhouse in 1962, Barbie’s homes have transformed and evolved, richly quoting 20th- and early 21st-century architecture and design history. Our book documents the impact Barbie has had on the global architectural imagination.’

Ben Ganz, the Swiss art director who designed the book, adds, ‘We designed the book like a proper architecture monograph, with consistent photography and detailed drawings. We wanted to display the breadth of architectural styles in a very dynamic and professional way, to create the ultimate taxonomy of the Barbie Dreamhouse.’

The book is being released in an edition of 200, with 50 collector’s editions available for the most ardent fans.

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