Barbie’s house, according to FAP!
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Barbie’s house, according to FAP!

The Barbie movie is coming to theatres soon and Barbie’s dream house already has a cult following.

The Barbie movie is coming to theatres soon and Barbie’s dream house already has a cult following.


Barbie fever is exploding with the imminent release of Greta Gerwig’s highly anticipated movie about the fashion doll that has made Mattel famous, but she’s more than that – she’s a genuine icon! What about Barbie’s house, do you remember it?

As we eagerly anticipate the theatrical release of Greta Gerwig’s live-action movie on 20 July, the excitement for “Barbie House fever!” has already taken hold. The movie, directed by the three-time Oscar-nominated director and starring Margot Robbie and Ryan Gosling as Ken, is already generating a lot of buzz and sparking discussions in various media outlets worldwide.

Greta Gerwig’s Barbie is a feminist icon, a liberated and independent woman. After all, Barbie has had her own home since 1962, when women’s emancipation was still a long way off.
The plot opens with Mattel’s blonde doll being expelled from Barbieland, her all-pink world, to embark on a journey in the real world to seek true happiness.

Barbie’s Dreamhouse also plays an important role in the film, as it does in the Mattel universe. As a result, Architectural Digest also expressed interest in the live-action movie, prompting an email interview with director Greta Gerwig who gave readers a tour of the "Barbie Dreamhouse." Additionally, the magazine’s YouTube channel features Margot Robbie, who takes viewers on a virtual tour of the house.

The architecture of the Dreamhouse has obviously changed over time, and its evolution can now be appreciated in a book called "Barbie Dreamhouse. An Architectural Survey" by Felix Burrichter, Whitney Mallett and Ben Ganz. This limited-edition publication is poised to become a cult classic.
The book contains original drawings, plans and photos, as well as interviews with Architects, Designers and Artists. It delves into the evolution of fashion, costume, design and lifestyle through the lens of the “house”.
You can catch a sneak peek here!

Barbie’s house embraces an open architectural concept, with no walls and doors, inspired by the Modernist-style houses found in Palm Springs, California, but built on three storeys. To create the full-sized sets, Gerwig enlisted the skills of Sarah Greenwood and set decorator Katie Spencer, the same team who created the sets for visually striking films like “Pride and Prejudice.”

Barbie’s house is filled with tactile elements, glitz and glamour and, of course, the colour pink. How could it be any other way?  It showcases iconic objects, stylish sofas, lavishly decorated and glossy details, and a wonderful swimming pool that Barbie and Ken can access by a slide. Everything was hand-painted to the point that so much pink paint was used for the sets that it led to an international shortage. This situation sparked much amusement, even with the director!  

The world ran out of pink” joked Greta Gerwig in the interview with Architectural Digest.
When designing the sets for Barbieland, Greenwood explained that “maintaining the childlike quality was paramount. I wanted the pinks to be very bright, and everything to be almost too much (...). Everything needed to be tactile because toys are, above all, things you touch.” “Authentic artificiality.

AD Italia features another interesting article written by Marina P. Asins and Belén Afonso, where artificial intelligence is employed to imagine how the greats of architecture, such as Le Corbusier, Zaha Hadid and Lina Bo Bardi, would have approached the design of Barbie’s house.
The result of the operation carried out with the Stable Diffusion software is really interesting!


Barbie’s house, according to FAP!


Several aspects of Barbieland resonate with the FAP spirit!

These include evolving shapes, a combination of design, fashion and lifestyle, open architecture, hyper-decorative elements embellished with glossy details, vibrant and vivid colours, meticulous craftsmanship and finally… the pursuit of happiness - which we strive to capture in the shapes, patterns, nuances and designs of our collections.

While we wait for all this to be revealed at Colorland (stay tuned!), let’s imagine designing Barbie’s house using our pinkest and glossiest wall tiles!

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Barbie House Style

 

Ylico Damasc shines and sparkles just like Barbie’s outfits!

This wall tile features glossy reliefs with a high tactile quality, illuminating walls with a repeated pattern of full-bodied and frosted damask motifs. The resulting mirror effect is perfectly suited for those cherished vanity moments.

The 50x120 size not only enhances the beauty of the decoration but also simplifies the installation process. It is incredible to think that this is a cement-effect tile, a material renowned for its cutting-edge technology and durability, which loses its raw essence here to exude grace, lightness and radiance!

 

The romantic and pictorial cascade of flowers of the Ylico Peony decoration creates a striking visual impact.

This effect is further enhanced by the generous 120x250 size, which accentuates the cascade of flowers composed of many shades of pink, complemented by warm whites, elegant greys and peachy pinks.

The matt finish lends a decorative and dreamlike quality to the walls, making them exceptionally contemporary.

These tiles are perfect for designing a dreamhouse, and can be used to create entire walls or to highlight eye-catching corners!

Barbie House Style
Barbie House Style

 

More rarefied and highly original is the Ylico Petals decoration in the 50x120 size.

Fantastic pink flowers, stems and golden leaves embellish the white surface with frosted and iridescent reliefs, which seem to bring to life the cement-effect wall, infusing it with grace, lightness and a touch of pink.

This very pleasant effect gives the room a sense of spaciousness and elevated elegance, particularly when the hyper-glossy decoration interacts with the light.

 

The botanical theme takes the form of a modern herbarium with Milano Mood Flower Cipria,

a refined decoration in soft colours and a 50x120 size.

In this beautiful floral tapestry, different shades of pink blend with trendy green and blue hues, illuminating in flashes of light.

Delicate pink nuances are also found in the mosaic decoration, designed to coordinate with this wall tile. Choose between Cipria Biscotto Archs Mosaico 28.2x31 and Cipria Mosaico 30.5x30.5.

Barbie House Style
Barbie House Style

 

We conclude our vie en rose with FAP Murals Flower Soft.

The petals of this 80x160 decoration rest delicately on the walls like the lightness of organza and tulle veils, creating a highly evocative and almost atmospheric colour effect.

This gives a remarkable sense of dimension and depth to the wall tile, heightened by the horizontal pattern (or vertical pattern, depending on how it is laid) which makes it tactile and exquisitely refined when matched with pink, white and grey tones.