Sweden's festive gingerbread competition

Building a gingerbread house together is a time-honoured festive activity in many Swedish homes. And "together" is this year's theme at the annual gingerbread house competition run by ArkDes, the Swedish Centre for Architecture and Design.

Sara Sandell teaches at the museum and believes their culinary contest mixes education in with the holiday fun. It's an innovative way of introducing the world of architecture to a wider audience.

Sara Sandell: "Architecture can feels a bit advanced and hard for people, but everybody have a relation to, to houses and architecture. So it, I think, gingerbread houses is a way to, to make it fun. And it's a tradition that a lot of people do yearly at home, they bake together, family and friends. So this is a way to do it in a, in a grander scale."

The tradition of gingerbread houses dates back to the late 19th Century. It's believed to have been inspired by the fairy tale of Hansel and Gretel, written by the Brothers Grimm.

Today's houses are decorated with brightly coloured sweets and ArkDes competition rules explicitly state that every element of them must be edible. Therefore, putting together these culinary creations involves a whole range of skills.

Sara Sandell: "A lot of things go into baking. The, it's planning and thinking ahead how you want pieces, materials, how they work together. So it's a lot of things that, that, that goes with architecture in the design but also it's, it's fun, and everybody loves gingerbreads houses, right."

ArkDes awards prizes to professionals, including architects, designers and professional bakers, as well as the general public. The categories are professionals, children under 12, and older baking enthusiasts. Although a jury chooses these winners, the competition also features a people's favourite award, voted for by everyone who's visited the exhibition at the museum.

Which would be your favourite?

View Less