Not only do toys provide evidence of the social and economic life of their period, but architectural toys ranging from wooden building blocks to iron and steel construction sets reflect distinct stylistic predilections and technological advances. New industrial and building techniques were used not only to create the new building types transforming our cities, but were also used in the manufacture and assembly of toys.

Buildings in Boxes: Architectural Toys from the CCA demonstrates how toys imitate the world around us through a selection of 19 objects from the Collection ranging from a wooden toy village dating from 1820 to “Plasticville, U.S.A.”, a set of scale¬models of American building types of the 1960s.

Buildings in Boxes: Architectural Toys from the CCA is the first in a series of exhibitions featuring the CCA’s collection of architectural toys and games, acquired with the support of Bell Canada.

Curator: Brooke Hodge, CCA.
Exhibition design: Robin Parkinson, New York.