Most of the dollhouses that we usually have on mind are delimited objects, made up of different levels where the dolls stay or simply travel between their rooms. However, sometimes the imagination of children travels with the dolls beyond the limits of the dollhouse through the furniture, rooms, or architectural elements of the rest of the house. Chairs, tables, the floor, and walls of the different rooms of the house temporarily become scenarios of that augmented «dollhouse».

The project «The house as a doll’s house» enables this creative exit to architecture through gadgets that allow the creation of microspaces in the existing furniture of the houses. It offers a collection of pieces that, when combined with home furniture or architectural elements, stimulate the imagination to create micro-worlds where symbolic play can take place. These gadgets are produced using digital manufacturing and allow home furniture to be “hacked”, carrying out an “upcycling”, which allows playful situations associated with preexistences.

Proposal to extend home furniture to be transformed into a doll’s house.

A catalog with first ideas for furniture interventions.

First iterations around a generic furniture leg.

First iterations of clamp design considering that wooden plates, crosspieces and rubber bands can be incorporated.

First iterations of clamp design considering that wooden plates, crosspieces and rubber bands can be incorporated.

Iterations of clamp designs.

Final parts catalog to insert into a generic furniture leg.

Testing the prototype into a lamp and a table.

Testing the prototype into a lamp and a table.