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

Mattel Creations and Pin-Up present ‘Barbie Dreamhouse: An Architectural Survey’, exploring the fantasy home’s evolution, from its first appearance in 1962 to its latest iteration in 2021

Barbie Dreamhouse book
(Image credit: Evelyn Pustka for Pin-Up)

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

Barbie Dreamhouse book cover in pink and white with pink sofa image

(Image credit: Evelyn Pustka for Pin-Up)

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. 

Open-fronted three-level dollhouse, in Barbie Dreamhouse book

(Image credit: Evelyn Pustka for Pin-Up)

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.

Barbie Dreamhouse 1962

(Image credit: Evelyn Pustka for Pin-Up)

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.’

Architectural plans inside Barbie Dreamhouse book

(Image credit: Evelyn Pustka for Pin-Up)

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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Barbie Dreamhouse book open at page with pink slide coming down from upper floor

(Image credit: Evelyn Pustka for Pin-Up)

1960s interior from Barbie Dreamhouse book

(Image credit: Evelyn Pustka for Pin-Up)

Barbie Dreamhouse elevator

(Image credit: Evelyn Pustka for Pin-Up)

Open pages of Barbie Dreamhouse book showing pink and white house

(Image credit: Evelyn Pustka for Pin-Up)

Chequered sofa, part of Barbie Dreamhouse furniture

(Image credit: Evelyn Pustka for Pin-Up)

Blue chair and ottoman, part of Barbie Dreamhouse furniture

(Image credit: Evelyn Pustka for Pin-Up)

Green and blue seats, part of Barbie Dreamhouse furniture

(Image credit: Evelyn Pustka for Pin-Up)

Pei-Ru Keh is the US Editor at Wallpaper*. Born and raised in Singapore, she has been a New Yorker since 2013. Pei-Ru has held various titles at Wallpaper* since she joined in 2007. She currently reports on design, art, architecture, fashion, beauty and lifestyle happenings in the United States, both in print and digitally. Pei-Ru has taken a key role in championing diversity and representation within Wallpaper's content pillars and actively seeks out stories that reflect a wide range of perspectives. She lives in Brooklyn with her husband and two children, and is currently learning how to drive.