The Dallas Center for Architecture will present Building Toys and Toy Buildings: Architecture Through A Child’s Eyes. The exhibition includes a wide spectrum of vintage and modern toys, including unusual examples like the Eames House of Cards, AstroBrite and Girder and Panel Sets. A section of the exhibition examines a variety of blocks - from German stone Anchor Blocks dating from the early 1900’s to the colored Playskool wooden blocks that have been a part of so many toy boxes for decades.

Additionally, the show looks at the various toy buildings in existence, with a special emphasis on doll houses, including one of the first Barbie Dream Houses and a house built by an architect for his daughter in the 1970s. Also included are groups of buildings from the Fisher-Price collection and the metal toys of the Marx Company.

In a special collaboration with Dallas Cityscape, this year’s display also includes models of several Dallas architectural icons: Thanks-Giving Square, Reunion Tower and the Margaret Hunt Hill Bridge. While the exhibit itself is “hands-off,” visitors will have the chance to design and build their own structure with blocks, TinkerToys and LEGOs in our “Construction Zone.”