Architects build gingerbread city to whet appetite for design

Gingerbread structures are seen on display at the Museum of Architecture's Gingerbread City at the V&A Museum, in London, Britain, December 5, 2018. REUTERS/Peter Nicholls

LONDON (Reuters) - Architects swapped traditional building materials for sugar and spice to create an edible gingerbread city of the future at London's V&A Museum, to show that urban planning can be fun, and tasty.

The annual exhibition, which is put together by London's Museum of Architecture, runs from Dec. 8 to Jan. 6 and showcases buildings by architects, designers and engineers who had been asked to create a sustainable and inclusive city of the future.

"We design and we work a lot in model making, and at this scale as well," said Robert Nolan, an architect at APT.

A staff member at the poses for a photograph next to the Museum of Architecture's Gingerbread City at the V&A Museum, in London, Britain, December 5, 2018. REUTERS/Peter Nicholls

"If you can see yourself having fun with just gingerbread and then transplant that to something a bit more realistic, actually it's not too far off and actually design is fun."

More than 60 structures have been baked and the city features a cable car made of liquorice, and cycle lanes and pedestrian route made entirely of sugar, while Holland Harvey Architects designed a modern homeless shelter.

"We had to be very careful when making it that suddenly you might be halfway through making something and then be like 'oh, wait, where did that piece go? Oh, we've actually gone and eaten it'," Nolan said.

A staff member at the poses for a photograph next to the Museum of Architecture's Gingerbread City at the V&A Museum, in London, Britain, December 5, 2018. REUTERS/Peter Nicholls

(Reporting by Hanna Rantala; Editing by Louise Heavens)

A staff member at the poses for a photograph next to the Museum of Architecture's Gingerbread City at the V&A Museum, in London, Britain, December 5, 2018. REUTERS/Peter Nicholls

A gingerbread structure by architects Lyndon-Goode is seen at Museum of Architecture's Gingerbread City sat the V&A museum, in London, Britain, December 5, 2018. REUTERS/Peter Nicholls

A staff member at the poses for a photograph next to a design called Temporal Pleasure by architects, Spaced Out and Evolution Design at the Museum of Architecture's Gingerbread City at the V&A Museum, in London, Britain, December 5, 2018. REUTERS/Peter Nicholls

A structure built by a robot from architects Foster and Partners is seen the Museum of Architecture's Gingerbread City at the V&A Museum, in London, Britain, December 5, 2018. REUTERS/Peter Nicholls

A structure called "Rocky Road to Somewhere" by architects NaganJohnson is seen at the Museum of Architecture's Gingerbread City at the V&A Museum, in London, Britain, December 5, 2018. REUTERS/Peter Nicholls