If only the world of Willy Wonka were real, with skyscrapers made from caramels, chocolate rivers and cities built of shortcake and whipped cream. Living in an edible world is only a dream, but these 10 examples of architecture made from food show that smaller scale versions can be almost as fun.
Edible London
(images via: Lift Festival)
Food artists and amateur cooks created this edible map of London, which includes items like pizza, fish, sandwiches, pretzels, soda cans, breadsticks and olives. The Marble Arch was recreated in coconut and licorice, while the British Museum was rather more traditional in gingerbread.
World’s Largest Gingerbread House
(image via: Neatorama)
The world’s largest gingerbread house may just be bigger than your own home. It encompasses a staggering 1,496 square feet and is made of over 14,000 pounds of gingerbread and 4,750 pounds of frosting. Created by gingerbread artist and current World Record holder Roger Pelcher, the house took 1,700 hours to construct and was displayed at the Mall of America in 2006.
Pizza Colosseum
(images via: YumSugar)
British food artist Prudence Emma Staite is best known for her chocolate interiors, but for a special exhibit at the Museum of London in 2007, she decided to try her hand at pizza dough. What resulted was an incredible replica of the Roman Colosseum, along with a life-size dough sculpture of Pope Benedict XVI. The total amount of dough used for these projects could make 500 average-sized pizzas.
Spaghetti and Marshmallow Tower
(images via: YouTube)
Boy scouts created this Buckminster Fuller-inspired tetrahedron created entirely from spaghetti and marshmallows, and promptly set out to destroy it with a game of dodgeball.
Photoshopped Edible Architecture
(images via: Worth 1000)
What if we lived in a Willy Wonka-like world of ice cream cone lighthouses, strawberry cottages and ferris wheels made of pizza? Of course, such structures could never really be created at full scale, but the wonders of Photoshop allow us to get a glimpse of what a delicious world it would be.
City of Biscuits
(images via: BBC)
Chinese artist Song Dong used thousands of biscuits and sweets to create a replica of an Asian city complete with a stadium and a church. The cityscape, installed in London department store Selfridges, was comprised of over 72,000 edible treats including caramels and fruit shortcake. Once it was completed, customers were invited to dig in.
Architectural Model Cakes
(images via: Michelle Sugar Art)
Pastry artist Michelle Wibowo of Michelle Sugar Art painstakingly sculpts and airbrushes her complex creations, including this scale recreation of the Victoria & Albert Museum of Childhood. It’s a large replica at approximately 29”x59”.
Buildings Made from Jello
(images via: Building)
1,000 architects explored the relation between architecture and food at the 2008 Architectural Jelly Banquet in London. Plans were drawn up and turned into jelly – or, as we know it here in the U.S., jello – molds, and the resulting creations were displayed and judged. The most impressive of the creations is pictured above – see more at Dezeen.
CANstruction
(images via: Spacing Toronto)
You may recall putting together modest towers of canned food during school food drives as a child, but it’s unlikely that they were anywhere near as impressive as these creations. Toronto University students teamed up with professional architecture, engineering and design firms and created what look like giant children’s book illustrations from cans of food. Cityscapes, trees, bees and even a Lego Man were among the designs.
Edible Landscapes
(images via: Carl Warner)
Nobody does edible landscapes quite like Carl Warner. This artist is a master at crafting bread, vegetables, fruit, cheese, meats and other edible items into stunningly realistic scenes. Herbs stand in for grass, purple cabbage leaves become a moonlit sea and blocks of gouda are transformed into a farmhouse in the distance. Warner uses pins and super glue to construct his edible landscapes, which must be photographed as soon as possible as they start to deteriorate after just a couple days.

