Architecture grads’ join industry giants to
create eco gingerbread city

This Christmas, architecture graduates from the University for the Creative Arts (UCA) have been part of an industry-wide project to bring attention to climate change using the sweet-smelling, festive confectionery, gingerbread.

15 Dec 2023

_{Rising Residences. Photo by Luke O'Donovan for The Gingerbread City 2023}

The Gingerbread City at Westfield White City in London, has been curated by the Museum of Architecture to champion sustainable design ideas, and this year’s theme is Water in Cities. Leading architecture practices, including Foster + Partners and Hopkins Architects, created designs across four separate zones: Urban Floodplain, Canal City, Frozen Landscape, and Underwater + Floating City.

^{Photo by Luke O'Donovan for The Gingerbread City 2023}

2022 graduates Elena Gruber and Mila Mielau, who work for [Y/N] Studio – founded by fellow UCA alumni Alex Smith – designed Rising Residences, two gingerbread houses on candy cane stilts to respond to rising sea levels. One residence is in water, and the other is on a flooding island.

Watch the making of 'Rising Residences' video. By Elena Gruber and Mila Mielau © [Y/N] Studio

Inspiration came from a real-life project, [Y/N] Studio’s real-life project, ‘House on Stilts,’ and Elena’s UCA folly about societies’ attitudes towards climate change.

“Rising Residences are future-proof houses in a changing climate,” Elena explained. “Stepping up to escape rising sea levels on a constant journey of treating symptoms of global warming rather than the causes, portraying humanity's handling of this threat.

“Creating the structure out of gingerbread and sweets embodies this approach, attempting to make something fun and easy whilst the problem is so severe that it must be addressed at its root. Flooding is a threat that we as architects must now consider when designing for the structures of tomorrow.

“Gingerbread is a good choice for building structures, given its strength. When combined with an architect’s exceptional model-making skill it was “quite easy to assemble,” said Elena.

_{Rising Residences. Photo by Luke O'Donovan for The Gingerbread City 2023}

Having chosen to study at UCA because it allowed to challenge herself creatively – the vital foundation for launching her career – she gave this advice to next year’s graduates.

“Continuously challenge yourselves in your creativity and design yet remain focused on the realities that come with the profession. Students should stay educated in current problems, such as the environment or the economy and see them as a challenge they want to tackle.”

The Gingerbread City closes on 7 January 2024.

To learn more about studying architecture at UCA, visit the course pages.

^{‘Rising Residences’, Gingerbread City. © Elena Gruber and Mila Mielau,  [Y/N] Studio.}