The playhouses are built, in place, and on display … my work is finally done (for at least 7 months.) When the construction dust settled, there were 15 playhouse designed and built for the 17th Annual Dallas CASA Parade of Playhouses and all are now on display and any one of them (except for 1) could be yours for $5.
Since a majority of the people who swing through here aren’t necessarily from the Dallas/ Fort Worth area (wass’up Melbourne!!) the likelihood that you will be able to come into town and see all the playhouses is remote. No worries, I went to the mall this morning – dodged the mall walkers – and took some photos of them all. I did have a Paul Blart eyeballing me until I told him who I was … and when that didn’t work I told him I worked for (mumbling) and he told me “Okay, but keep it moving.”
So, in the spirit of keeping things moving, here are all of the playhouses for this year – let me know which ones are your favorite. (If you click on the pictures and then click again, they will open up at twice the size so you can get a really good look at them if you want.)
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Provided by Audrey Maxwell, Michael Malone Architects with FBE Construction, LTD.
AIA Dallas Competition Winner
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Provided by Winstead PC with Erin Parisi and The Home Depot
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Provided by Scott Armstrong, WRA Architects, Inc. with Crossland Construction
AIA Dallas Competition Winner
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Provided by Aircraft Mechanics Fraternal Association Local 11 with Southwest Airlines
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Provided by AMX with Southwest Displays
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Provided by Ambit Energy
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Provided by Dallas CASA Children’s Council with Scott & Reid General Contractors, Inc., Entos Design and Centerpoint
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Provided by Guardian Exteriors, murals by Brooke McGough
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Provided by Sewell with Spring Valley Construction Company
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Provided by Butscher Construction with Ansley Whitley and The Home Depot
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Provided by LRO Residential
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Provided by Scott Taylor, Bernbaum Magadini Architects with Waterford Construction
The Front Line Diorama Playhouse was designed by somewhat frequent Life of an Architect conspirator Scott Taylor – this was the second year Scott has designed a playhouse for the event. I am here to tell you, once you start designing these playhouses, you start to look forward to the next year’s playhouse event so you can try out some new ideas.
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in the Diorama playhouse
This is Bruce – one of the partners in the firm where I work. He came along to help set up all the figures within Scott’s playhouse (not that Scott needed the help, I think Bruce just likes playing with toys.)
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Provided by Peter Christensen with AUI Contractors
Life of an Architect Competition Winner
This is the finished version of the Beacon Playhouse – one of the Life of an Architect Playhouse Design Competition winners. You can’t win this playhouse with a $5 raffle ticket, this was selected to be the online auction playhouse.
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Provided by Bogdan Tomalevski and Tarek Abdel Ghaffar with AUI Contractors
Life of an Architect Competition Winner
This is the other Life of an Architect Playhouse Design Competition winner – a very modern looking playhouse that so far seems to be very popular. While I’m sure the clean lines and intriguing geometry are part of the interest, a contributing reason might be what’s on the inside …
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HEXBUG’s!!! It just so happens that my office is currently designing a house for the guy who invented these things – Bob Mimlitch. Last year Bob donated a skajillion of these toys to my playhouse and there seemed to be a good fit for this modern playhouse and these HEXBUG’s. I called Bob M. up once again and he sent a trunk load over and they are all (except the one above which is now a permanent resident on my desk) inside the playhouse as an added bonus to the lucky kid who will win this playhouse.
Thanks Bob.
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Provided by Bob Borson, Bernbaum Magadini Architects with Buford Builders
And this was my contribution to this years event – The Dugout. In a similar manner as the Nooks and Crannies Playhouse, the inside of the Dugout is outfitted with all sorts of Texas Ranger gear – shirts, jersey’s, baseballs … I even have a pro-sized container of sunflower seeds.
What I want to end with is something a little funny – well, it will be funnier if you know a little about my love for glass block …
Despite my feelings towards glass block, I think I’ll keep these two.
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What a great collection of playhouses! Love the variety!
When did you start to love glass block? ha ha ha. Bob, these are all really excellent playhouses. I love them all. And you are such a community oriented guy. You deserve whatever award they give you for this!
Those are all great! I’m partial to the lighthouse, being from the east coast.
I’m not sure I could pick a favorite if I tried. Favorites for me would be Urban Chicken Coop, Fort Frontier, Kids Kastle (for the girls), The Old Barnhouse, Becon Playhouse. If I had to choose one that I’d like to have in my backyard, Urban Chicken Coop would likely win, but I’m biased towards the graceful trusses. Most fun looking would be probably the Fort Frontier or Becon Playhouse.
It is a nice chicken coop isn’t it? There’s no telling which one the kids will gravitate towards, just like grown-ups, kids have a complex selection process based on prior years experience. My daughter, as an example, didn’t put tickets in any of the ones you listed (although she struggled passing up on the Beacon Playhouse)
This just keeps getting better every year!
Doug
Thanks Doug! Hopefully you’ll take another run at it next year. You can bring some of that eastern seaboard architecture into the mix
Did You made all of this ? ’cause I really like it! I am in a school of Architecture and I find making models very interesting and also difficult. My first, was model of Villa Savoye 🙂
Hi Almedina,
No, I didn’t make all of these (technically, I didn’t “make” any of them). I designed the Dugout playhouse and had a competition on my site to design two others, and the another architect from my office designed one.
I think every architecture student at one point or another makes a model of Villa Savoye – it seems to be a rite of passage in architecture school. Best of luck!
Sad I missed this, what an amazing looking bunch!
Hi Cameron – there’s always next year. We will start of the Life of an Architect Playhouse Design Competition probably in March 2013 – keep an eye open and submit a design!
What a fantastic collection… well done!
Thanks Mark – I appreciate you taking the time to check and leave a comment.
Cheers!