The AIA Barbie® Dream House™ Design Competition challenged AIA members to design a dream house for an American icon. From nearly 30 submissions, a panel of jurors selected five finalists with input from Mattel’s own team of Barbie® experts. We then invited the public to choose their favorite design. Almost 9,000 kids and kids at heart voted. And the winners are… Read More.
The design competition hosted by the AIA was created as a fun way for the design community to engage with Mattel’s newest Barbie® doll -I Can Be…™ Architect Barbie®. The AIA and Mattel received nearly 30 entries.
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Despina Stratigakos, Assoc. AIA, left in black, and Kelly Hayes McAlonie, AIA, LEED AP, right in red, lead an Architect Barbie workshop for girls at the AIA National Convention in New Orleans in May. Both women worked with Mattel to develop Architect Barbie.
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Barbie has more than 125 careers on her resume, and each year Mattel looks to expand that number with roles that are both aspirational and culturally relevant.
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"We designed the workshops to provide the girls with a basic understanding of the role of an architect, the history of women in the architectural profession and short charette that exposed them to the design process," said Hayes McAlonie.
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Mattel will spotlight architecture as its "Career of the Year" for the Barbie line and hopes to educate and encourage girls to consider the field when thinking about what their jobs could be when they become adults.
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The design submitted by Ting Li, Assoc. AIA, LEED AP and Maja Paklar, Assoc. AIA, received the most public votes, out of the 8,470 votes registered, in the AIA Architect Barbie® Dream House™ competition that was orchestrated by the American Institute of Architects (AIA).
