ginger 2015: group 6

Alas, this is our final grouping of Ginger 2015 masterpieces. I call this set of entries Classic Architecture and Related Digests.

Cast your vote at the bottom of the post to help determine the winner of the 2015 People’s Choice Prize. (For more information on how this competition will go down, click here.)

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nancy’s eiffel tower

This is Nancy’s second appearance in this year’s competition – her other entry can be found here. She writes:

This is my gingerbread tribute to Paris. My small way to let the world know we all stand together in peace.

Nancy, this is an excellent tribute. Also, I’ve been to Paris, and I can assure you that the Eiffel Tower is completely edible. They don’t tell people this in brochures because the materials are quite stale and have been touched by lots of little children. The French are very cautious when it comes to food borne illnesses.

The piping, the lattice work, the majesty! Delicate yet robust. Ginger structures like this beg to be consumed from the top down. Ginger structures like this surely require a degree in structural engineering! Did you know that 50 tonnes of paint/royal icing are added to the Eiffel Tower every seven years to protect it from rust/little children? True story. And I think adding the toile wallpaper to your home shows a real commitment to your Parisian-inspired gingering. Tellement beau, Nancy!

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madeleine’s villa skogshyddan

Madeleine writes:

I luv to build Scandinavian gingerbreadhouses “Old Style.” This, Villa Skogshyddan, was until 2013 a part of the cultural area Petersvik (Sundsvall, Sweden) threatened by the complete destruction of a total of 10 villas from the 1880s and 1890s, to be replaced by a container port and logistics center. One of my favourite houses in the surroundings.

Madeleine, en söt hus är den bästa typ av huset. Villa Skogshyddan är en mycket välsmakande bostad och logistikcentraler får aldrig ses som bättre än godis. (That’s right, thanks to Google translate I was able to Swedify: a sugary house is the best sort of house. The Villa Skogshyddan is a very tasty residence, and logistics centres should never be thought of as better than candy.)

The piping on this abode is masterful! This villa is just the sort of place I’d like to stay in should I ever find myself in Sweden. I would sit on that enclosed porch, munching on a räksmörgås, then move inside to enjoy some surströmming (it attracts flies), and then back outside because surströmming smells so bad. Understated and refined, this is architectural gingering at its best!

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anne marie’s shout out to peer pressure and old forge

Anne Marie writes:

For the last several years I’ve been telling everyone that I am going to make the famous blacksmith house (aka Old Forge) in Rothenburg, Germany, and the last several years I would wait until the very last minute to start making the damn house (I’m a professional procrastinator aka lazy as hell). SO of course my plan to make this house was put to rest and I would do something not as elaborate and call it a day…

Do you guys feel like you should know more about architecture? Had you ever heard of Old Forge before this?

This year my friends pretty much forced me, posting on my facebook wall almost daily reminding me to get my sh*t together and get with it.

So… Anne Marie has smart friends? Is Old Forge something people get really worked up about? Has Old Forge ever trended on Facebook? Are people doing cool things without me?

I spent a week creating this thing. If you look up what the actual house I modeled it after, you’ll notice that the roof is all distorted and weird and pretty much impossible. But I figured if some medieval dudes could do it then I could too. It wasn’t as easy as I thought it would be. Things that I thought would be hard were easy and things that were small and should have been easy were not. Then as soon as I was about to finally piece this puppy together my unimpressed six year old son told me it would be a lot cooler if it actually lit up. I told him he could suck it but then I realized I loved him too much to disappoint and added some lights at the last minute.

I like any woman who is willing to tell her kid to suck it. Even if that woman eventually caves.

On the plus side our kitchen was such a disaster that my husband refused to let me prepare his food so we ate out every night for an entire week (score for me!).  The down side? It took me two hours to clean my kitchen and get it back to it’s normal status. Now I’m off to sniff my house. I added peppermint extract to the royal icing so it smells extra delish. I bet if Santa was real that’s what he would smell like…. gingerbread & peppermint. 

Uh, is anyone else creeped out about that whole Santa-scent reference? WHY, ANNE MARIE?!

If I were a blacksmith, I would want to work in Anne Marie’s forge. Allow me to gingercate you: a forge is a hearth used for heating metals, but sometimes the structures that house them are also called forges. This forge, this peer-pressure produced forge, is truly awe-inpsiring. I don’t even understand how that roof came to be. It’s curved. It has 4.7 million shingles. And it sits atop the most adorable gingerforge ever to exist! The windows, the window boxes, the perfect little front door! I CAN’T EVEN!!

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diane’s mid-century modern gingerhouse

Diane writes:

I am an American who recently married a Canadian and we live in Toronto. I love it here!!!! I am a jewelry designer by trade & passion and I love all things Mid Century Modern. 

I don’t know what got into me, but I decided to create a “dream home” for us out of gingerbread this year. Yes, I must be a little crazy because I sketched the entire thing out first, then made templates, then the gingerbread….you get the picture. 🙂

Diane? It IS kinda crazy to create your dream house out of gingerbread. I mean, how big is it? Can you even fit your furniture in there? This is exactly what happens when jewelry designers build houses. They are pint-sized.

The chimney is made from chocolate candy pebbles, the windows are satin candies & liquorice. I used royal icing for anything foliage related including the “moss” between the front walkway.  The best is that the house is completely EDIBLE! Although after sitting out for the holiday season I’m not so sure how tasty it might be.  (Note: always make gingerbread cookies to have on hand so you aren’t tempted to nibble a rooftop! Just saying’…)

Sage advice, Diane.

There is nothing about this house that I don’t like. Contemporary styling, understated elegance. In fact, it’s kinda my dream house. (Except mine would be larger and made out of… whatever real houses are made of.) Did you all notice the planters? The perfect little planters? The chimney! The moss in the walkway! What a perfect modern minimalist take on classic gingerbreading. Wow. That sentence was awkward.

Wanna hang with Diane? Click here!

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victoria & dai’s the ginger mosque

Victoria’s mother, Stacy, sent in this entry. This may be because Victoria is either unable to read, write or use the internet, but I can’t say which for sure. Stacy sent in three photos, but I didn’t freak out. I simply picked two to show you because, again, I’m not sure if Victoria can read, and I didn’t want to be perceived as… mean to people who can’t read.

Stacy writes:

Once again, I am the proud mom, entering Ginger on my daughter’s behalf because I care about sharing her creations with the world and Victoria is more focused on the actual creating. Hey, we all have our rolls to play. I know every mom thinks her children are the best and smartest, but mine actually are. Go ahead and mock me. I can take it, baby! 

Uh, I could point out that the world’s smartest kid doesn’t know how to use email, but whatever.

Every year Victoria makes a ginger structure of some kind but since we were celebrating in our current home of Dubai last year, she chose to make a mosque. This time she had a partner in crime, her boyfriend Dai, who is also a creative type and a delightful young man. 

The Ginger Mosque took hours of research and meticulous plan drawing even before they got to the mixing, rolling, baking stage.

I’m going to assume that Dai was in charge of the research, as Victoria doesn’t seem comfortable with using the internet. In fact, it’s possible that Dai is the world’s smartest kid.

The walls and minaret are gingerbread cookie; joints and decorations are royal icing and French silver dragées. The great dome is spun caramelized sugar. To give you an idea of the size, the rug hanging behind the mosque is 31 inches, or for you Canadians almost 80cm, wide. That is a lot of gingerbread. 

The repeating diamonds on the roof are typical in Islam art. And that there in the middle of the courtyard is an eight-sided Islamic star pool, filled with shiny caramelized sugar. 

My word. That thing is gorgeous. I work next to a mosque, and I haven’t seen a single caramelized sugar anything on the building. I’m going to head over on Monday and suggest a couple of updates. The majesty that Victoria and Dai have managed to capture is quite astounding. The piping. The courtyard! THE DOME!

Stacy also added:

We did debate the appropriateness of making a mosque for a Christmas celebration but decided that in the interest of interfaith harmony and honoring our current home country, it was a good idea. I hope the interwebs agree. Over the years we have lived in Muslim countries more years than not, and have many friends of that faith. We have found them all to be generous and funny and loyal friends of the very best kind. 

Would that we all do a little research into other religions, eat and break bread with folks of a different faith, the world would be a better place. 

I couldn’t agree more. And I’m sure Victoria would too, if only she could read this post.

I’m sure Dai will pass on the message.

Click here to hang with Stacy, find Dai over here and Victoria by clicking here!

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lan & dw’s gingerbread architect feature

Lan writes:

i’m pleased to share that our ginger house was recently featured on the cover of esteemed publication, Gingerbread Architect. as pseudo-architects, dw + i enjoyed sourcing real materials to build our humble ginger abode. we foraged three establishments for the slating for the roof, and barely managed to get the siding up — all participating parties were most eager to chew gum and not so much cover the house. 

alas, the dwelling came out victorious, boasting 80 sticks of gum. it is the nicest smelling ginger abode, ranging from minty to juicy fruity.  

Well, hot damn! I’ve finally found a use for Blibber-Blubber! Gingercational moment: Blibber-Blubber was a failed attempt at bubble gum, invented in 1906, but deemed too sticky to sell. Also, it maaaay have required turpentine and vigorous scrubbing to remove it from skin. However, it seems like the perfect medium for ginger architects like Lan and DW. I wonder if there’s still some available? Maybe in an underground bunker?

I’m not surprised this home was featured in Gingerbread Architect. Innovative building materials, sleek design, minimalist in style, yet warm and inviting. The walkway will surely be a trend in 2016. (I’ve already placed an order for multi-coloured gum balls to re-do ours in the spring.) So many ideas to chew over. (See what I did there?! SEE WHAT I DID?!)

You can hang out with Lan over here – you like it. Trust me. 

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Cast your vote below! The (one) overall winner of online Ginger polling will win the 2015 People’s Choice Prize!

Repeat voters are blocked by cookie and IP address.
Polls close at 11 am AST, Tuesday, December 22, 2015.

You can also cast a vote for your favourite Group 4 and Group 5 entries.

Polling for Group 1, Group 2 & Group 3 continues until 10 am AST, Monday, December 21, 2015.