Over 10,000 people cast their votes, after visiting the exhibition at Somerset House in December 2019 and January 2020.
‘Gingernut Cracker Ballet’, created by theatre design company Charcoalblue, is the overall favourite.
In second place is ‘Fruitcake Club’ by Allies and Morrison and in third place is ‘Oxford Circus’ by Arup Architects. The creators of the top three buildings will all receive a cash prize from the MoA to enable them to establish or continue a research project.
The public’s favourite, ‘Gingernut Cracker Ballet’, was inspired by the theatrical innovations of the Victorian age, and featured a rotating carousel and multiple panes of colourful ‘sugar glass’. ‘Fruitcake Club’ took an imagined victorian-sponge cake factory and re-purposed it.
‘Oxford Circus’ reimagined one of London’s busiest intersections and suggested how the high street might change in the future.
The top 10 favourite buildings were:
1st place: ‘Gingernut Cracker Ballet’ Charcoalblue (cash prize £1,000)
2nd place: ‘Fruitcake Club’ Allies and Morrison (cash prize £500)
3rd place: ‘Oxford Circus’ Arup Architects (cash price £250)
4th place: ‘Buttersea Power Station’ by Stride Treglown
5th place: ‘The Old Snowman Brewery’ by LOM
6th place: ‘London Bridge Roll Station’ by Grimshaw Architects
7th place: ‘The Palace of Light’ by BDP
8th place: ‘Battersea Sugar Powered Station’ by Michaelis Boyd
9th place: ‘Gingerbread Modern’ by Skidmore, Owings, Merrill
10th place: ‘Santa Cruise’ by Claydon Reeves
Charcoalblue will use the £1000 winner’s prize to continue to fund its research into accessibility and inclusivity in performing arts venues. Allies and Morrison will use their £500 prize to research new ways to improve material sustainability in their in-house model shop. Arup Architects will be putting their £250 prize towards their on-going ‘Streets of the Future’ research.
Speaking about the research fund, Elena Giakoumaki from Charcoalblue, said: “At Charcoalblue we are passionate about accessibility and exclusivity in the performing arts. This timely prize from the Museum of Architecture will assist us in our next phase of research to better understand the breadth of accessibility requirements for those who are physically, visually, aurally or mentally impaired.”
The Gingerbread City is an annual exhibition, now in its fourth year. Organised by Museum of Architecture, its aim is to connect the public with architecture in an exciting way, and spark important conversations around cities and how we live in them.
Melissa Woolford, founder and director of Museum of Architecture said: “It was an absolute pleasure bringing The Gingerbread City to life again in December. The exhibition space was buzzing with people thinking about cities and the built environment. As well as being able to award research grants to the practices responsible for the top three buildings, the popularity of Gingerbread City has enabled us to set up a grant-giving fund this year. This new fund will allow MoA to support new projects which help people to create betters places and communities, and enable the public to better engage with architecture.”