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Rethink Everything, Including Play
From two decades as a professional dancer to starting a new career in design, Charlie Hodges has perfected the art of finding new perspectives. He has overcome stereotypes and accepted things about himself that he could not change. Now Hodges finds himself in the unique position to impart that wisdom to the next generation, particularly those without the means to make changes for themselves.
With his latest project, Hodges honestly had to rethink everything and from every angle. Hodges set out to provide children hope, equity, diversity, and inclusion all in one stunningly illustrated, sustainably designed, and carefully crafted toy.
The result is a fusion of love, art, architecture, and play known as Archamelia.
Archamelia: The House of a Thousand Stories
By: Charlie Hodges, Founder of Archamelia
Before you can understand, Archamelia, the puzzle toy house I invented, it's essential to know that I spent the first 20 years of my life dancing professionally. My career put me on stage worldwide, in front of queens, at fancy film festivals and art exhibits. I won awards such as Best Male Dancer in Europe and Broadway, but I am best known for having an unorthodox frame – too bald, short, and thick to be taken seriously. To "stay in the game," I had to accept that the features the dance world loved to hate were genetic, and I wouldn't be able to change them.
But what I could change was the point of view. I studied optical illusions to learn how to make a short line look longest; I built strength to jump higher than the tallest. Fast forward to my current life in design, I have come to believe that the most important skill one can hone is that of finding new perspectives. Anything becomes something else when seen from a different angle. And we get to choose if that angle enhances or detracts. It's a remarkable superpower.
I wished I'd learned this sooner. I have since committed to helping younger generations realize this as quickly as possible. Thus, Archamelia, the House of a Thousand Stories, was born.
What Makes a House a Home?
This toy house began in collaboration with a foster community and a relocated Syrian refugee family, exploring what made a house to a kid without a home. They taught me that a home is not made only of four walls and a roof; it is love and safety, from which curiosity, creativity, community, and courage are born. Inspired by this, I redesigned the Barbie Dream House, a top 5 best-selling traditional toy on the market.
I was David to this twenty-seven pound Goliath, a 96% plastic toy and ends up polluting our oceans and landfills. If I could eliminate the plastic, it would be the quickest way to make the most dramatic impact. Inspired by origami, I committed to using paper, allowing a new range of engineering opportunities. Creating something collapsible would save space, reduce weight, educate engineering, inspire imagination.
The name "archamelia" is a combination of "architecture" and "chameleon." I think of it as an ever-changing house and, in turn, a point of view. When viewed from one angle is a tree fort, but when knocked over on its side becomes a pirate ship. I wanted to create something that was genuinely open-ended, for a child to drive their make-believe where and when they wanted to go, with as little influence as possible.
Inspired by Eames and "The Eleventh Hour
My inspirations for the toy house come from my favorite book by Graeme Base called "The Eleventh Hour." Rich illustrations and hidden games kept me rereading that book for months. I also find the Eames family to be inspiring. They had a bottomless hunger to learn, explore, create. True polymaths, they assumed that everyone wanted to understand more, too. Their design was always a conversation, a sentence that ended with a question, or a comma, never a period.
"Everything in the world of Archamelia has multiple purposes."
Charlie Hodges
Many parents talk about how their kids play with the boxes of presents more than the gifts themselves, so I thought it was time to lean into this tendency. Archamelia is its packaging and carrier case all in one. It's the toy too. Everything in the world of Archamelia has multiple purposes. The shipping box becomes a toy chest to hold any accessories a child creates during play. The top pops off via perforation to become a display pedestal for the house when not in use. The interior inserts protect the home during shipment, then transform into tents, couches, and trucks. Zero waste isn't a hindrance; from a new perspective, it becomes an imaginative opportunity.
It All Hinges on Paper and Packaging
What is unique here, I think, is the use of the paper as the hinge. In product design, you repeatedly make the same thing, but the packaging world is much more agile. You can quickly pivot countless times as needed. With Archamelia, I am blending this packaging manufacturing flexibility with the durability of product design, using paper, to create a new toy type.
I needed a paper that was lightweight enough to fold on itself and stay folded! To collapse the Flip 'n' Fly Airplane into something thinner than an inch requires that the paper not have too much memory. As a toy intended to be played with, it needs to fold and unfold without eventually wearing out or cracking the illustrations. Using paper as a hinge to hold the pieces together, I needed a high tear-resistant material. And because we all know kids can be messy, I wanted something that was cleanable.
I found all of this in Neenah® Digiscape Li. While commonly used for wide-format signage, it was the lightest weight option available with incredible strength. It takes ink well and a high level of detailed design without cracking.
Simply Sustainable in Every Way, Including Play
Simplification is a less-discussed benefit of sustainable design. I only have three steps in my supply chain. Think back to the original Barbie Dreamhouse I mentioned. It was a product created using five plastics, eight metals, and three types of paper. Archamelia only needs paperboard, paper, and tape. I source all my materials within the United States. I have everything manufactured and assembled within a 30-mile radius, so that border delays don't exist. When deliveries are delayed (for material shipments and final distribution), I rent a Uhaul and do it myself. It would seem that sustainable thinking has unintentionally integrated a certain degree of valuable resilience and independence.
It is through play that we learn the stuff that's hard to teach. And we tell our kids that they can become anything they want but then fail to provide them with the necessary tools to get there. Archamelia changes all of that. In simple terms, Archamelia, the House of a Thousand Stories, offers your nutritious child play.
Please visit www.archamelia.com to learn more about the most significant little toy house on the market!
