It’s not Christmas without some gingerbread. We’ve been baking a lot of gingerbread over the last few weeks and decided to make a visit to this years The Gingerbread City.

The Gingerbread City at Coal Drops Yard

This is an annual exhibition of gingerbread buildings, organised by the Museum of Architecture. We try and visit every year and enjoy seeing what people have created from gingerbread.

This year’s theme, The Playful City, celebrates the power of fun, curiosity and design to make our cities happier, healthier and more connected. From colourful, interactive public spaces to rewilded rooftops and buildings that invite movement and joy, architects are reimagining what “play” means for people of all ages.

There are three different zoned rooms filled with gingerbread creations. We explored each area before voting for our favourite creation at the end. Some of the buildings were recognisable but others were imaginary.

Loved the Lake District Gingerbread Village and the pretty cottages.

There were some amazing creations, such as this one from the architect Zaha Hadid.

And this delicate gingerbread construction was standing up well to all the little hands which kept touching it.

There was a treasure hunt for younger children to do, but we were happy to look at all the models. There were all types of buildings and houses, even a merry go round, and a miniature train running around at head height.

At the end you could take a selfie and turn it into a gingerbread biscuit via the Gingerbread Yourself Button using the AI selfie tool created by Gendo which we loved.

Find The Gingerbread City at Unit 5, 79-81 Coal Drops Yard, London, N1C 4DQ until the 4th January 2026.

Previous visits to The Gingerbread City:

The Gingerbread City at Westfield White City 2023

The Gingerbread City: Future of Transport 2019

The Gingerbread City: Health and Wellbeing 2017