Barbara Millicent Roberts hails from the small fictional town of Willows, Wisconsin and was introduced to the world in 1959. She was better known by her nickname Barbie after graduating from Willows High School, and she became one of the greatest pop icons of all time. Created by the American toy company Mattel, this young blonde doll was destined to live forever at the age of 19. In 1962, she got her own home when her original Barbie Dreamhouse debuted.
in the book Barbie’s Dreamhouse: An Architectural SurveyYou can see a snapshot of the original house made entirely out of cardboard, with yellow walls, a single bed and a college pennant as decoration, by Mattel Creations. From the beginning, Barbie was determined to live independently, and her home reflected her desire for freedom. Her pursuit of an independent life is even more remarkable when considered in the context of her time.
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An initial foray into the world of interior design, where the color pink is used only as an occasional accent, was followed by a series of increasingly sophisticated apartments and mansions. In 1974, Mattel launched Barbie His Townhouse, an open-plan modular construction model reminiscent of Le Corbusier’s Maison Don Hino. But the image that most of us have in our minds of Barbie’s house, an elaborate building decked out in pink and fuchsia with matching furnishings, is the Magical Mansion. It wasn’t until his 1990s that it became a reality with the debut of . But what if Le Corbusier himself was asked to design a Barbie house instead of simply inspiring it? What would he have created for his client? What if that task was instead entrusted to Santiago Calatrava? Or to Lina Bo Bardi? Luckily, artificial intelligence software Stable Diffusion allows you to play with these fantasies and turn them into reality.
Zaha Hadid
According to Stable Diffusion AI software, Zaha Hadid’s Barbie House will be a sinuous white glowing structure.
Born and raised in Iraq, renowned architect Zaha Hadid was one of those people who believed that nothing is impossible. “I have no style. Rather, I am always at the forefront of innovation, striving to invent everything. It took me a long time to learn to build on that special diversity,” she once said. advertisement Spain During an interview at his home in London. Inspired by Hadid, Barbie’s house is a sculptural structure featuring dynamic, powerful curves. According to AI software, the Barbie house that Hadid was to build contains this undeniably signature element, and is also characterized by being precisely tidy with just a few touches of pink. (at the client’s request, of course).
Frank Lloyd Wright
Frank Lloyd Wright, on the other hand, created a house that blended into the natural environment.
Frank Lloyd Wright was one of the leading figures in 20th century architecture.th century. He despises buildings that he has plagiarized from Europe, God only he is one, nature. He always wrote it with a capital N. Using these buildings, he created horizontal houses and other buildings with low ceilings and organic forms. They are integrated into their environment and are characterized by fluid interiors. According to AI, Fallingwater would have been the basic inspiration for Barbie’s house. Vegetation and the environment play an important role in the project, and the mansion combines materials such as brick to create overlapping volumes.
Oscar Niemeyer
Oscar Niemeyer’s designs are based on the power of curves.
Niemeyer, a Brazilian architect who defected after a military coup in his homeland, from his office on the Champs-Élysées in Paris, explores a tropical version of rationalism, combining concrete and glass softened by his mastery of organic forms. Did. This is exactly the house Barbara Millicent Roberts would have commissioned for him, a modern, bright, winding building imaginable in the Wisconsin prairie, in which furniture plays a fundamental role. Plays.
Le Corbusier
But Le Corbusier built his designs around the use of bold colors and right angles.
Le Corbusier’s influence is already evident in the 1974 Barbie Townhouse, where the proposed design is also distinguished by the use of color and right angles.
Santiago Calatrava
In this Calatrava-inspired design, you can see references to previous projects, such as the City of Arts and Sciences in Valencia, Spain.
“For me, the strict separation of art and architecture is merely the result of the functionalism that prevailed in the 20th century and after the Second World War, which produced the principle that ‘form follows function’. But it is much more than that. And of course there is a kinship between sculpture and architecture,” Santiago Calatrava once said when asked about the relationship between art and architecture. In his designs he often revealed the source of his inspiration. Similar to Valencia’s City of Arts and Sciences, Barbie’s home incorporates nautical-themed shapes and angles reminiscent of a ship’s cabin.
Frank Gehry
The Frank Gehry House also incorporates elements of previous designs, such as the Hotel Marqués De Riscal in Spain’s Rioja region and the Louis Vuitton Foundation in Paris.
Frank Gehry used the curved form in a different way, covering the façade with lilac metal plates. In fact, the AI model reminds me of the Hotel Marques de Riscal in Rioja.
Ludwig Mies van der Rohe
“Less is more.” Mies van der Rohe’s mantra is reflected in the sober, uncluttered mansion, a far cry from the stylistic choices we associate with popular dolls.
The greatest representative of German rationalism and the last headmaster of the Bauhaus school, Mies was the son of a mason and part of the source of his respect for noble materials and precise, refined visual perfection. bottom. Therefore, his AI designs inspired by his work, even though very selective, have only a few elements, refuse to use pink, and instead use more natural tones, muted colors. It is not surprising that the color tone was chosen.
Luis Barragan
“My work is autobiographical. I have sought to adapt the needs of modern life to the magic and melancholy of the past,” said Luis Barragán of his approach to architecture.
The strong influence of Mediterranean architecture is evident in Barragán’s designs through references to nature, water and low horizontal volumes. Like many of his buildings, this home combines modernity, tradition, and a bold use of color.
Tadao Ando
For Tadao Ando, winner of four of architecture’s most prestigious awards (the Pritzker Prize, the Carlsberg Prize, the Premium Imperiale Prize, and the Kyoto Prize), simplicity is the best way to harness your emotional power.
For many, Tadao Ando is synonymous with a modern vision of simplicity that combines concrete, water, light and natural forms in a way few other architects can. Deeply influenced by Le Corbusier, Ando has a desire to create a sense of tranquility and emotion in his space. In his buildings, you can enjoy visual minimalism and also create a sense of awe through different spatial ambiences. Like Mies van der Rohe’s design, the Barbie house he would have created according to his AI is far from the aesthetic standards we associate with dolls.
Lina Bo Bardi
An Italian living in Brazil, Lina Bo Bardi is known for her pursuit of humanism, in which rationalism is combined with emotion.
Lina Bo Bardi’s house amazes us with the architect’s characteristic intelligence at the heart of all her designs. The strong color combination reminds me of the São Paulo Museum of Art.
This article was originally published by AD Spain.
