Hasta La Ideas

Perhaps there’s a case to be made for inoculating youngsters against bad architecture through toys such as Barbie’s Dreamhouse (read: pink plastic McMansion), but why not start ‘em off with the good stuff? Enter Brinca Dada, maker of beautiful and fun toys with an architectural twist. For our A-Z UnBeige Gift Guide, we’ve selected the company’s Bennett House, a De Stijl-flavored take on the New York brownstone. Made of CARB-certified woods (including bamboo floors), the three-foot-tall house features LED lights, solar panels, and an elevator as well as a rooftop pool and glass rail balconies off the master bedroom and children’s bedroom. “Townhouses are typically a stack of floors with a few windows on each floor, and no inside/outside relationship,” says architect Tim Boyle, who designed the Bennett House for Brinca Dada. “I prefer architecture that reveals structure and engineering, hence windows extend past floors to show the weight and thickness of the structure.” We suggest putting this mod dollhouse under the tree along with the company’s collection of clean-lined mini-furniture and a copy of Ida van Zijl‘s Gerrit Rietveld (Phaidon).

Have a suggestion for the UnBeige Gift Guide? E-mail us at unbeige@mediabistro.com.

Previously on the UnBeige Gift Guide:
♦ A is for Adjaye’s African Metropolitan Architecture

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