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Using money raised by National Lottery players, The National Lottery Heritage Fund supports projects that connect people and communities with the UK’s heritage. Vanbrugh 300 is made possible with The National Lottery Heritage Fund. Thanks to National Lottery players, we have been able to develop a nationwide project that aims to broaden the awareness of Vanbrugh through special displays, free education programmes and lectures, throughout his tercentenary year in 2026.
Saturday 23rd May - Saturday 31st October
Castle Howard, Yorkshire, YO60 7DA
Playshapes: Castle Constructors is a large-scale, hands-on installation made from six 1-metre coloured cubes that can be broken down into steps, triangles, polygons, cylinders and prisms. Set out initially in a simple grid, the forms are transformed by children and adults into towers, follies and dens, before being reassembled at the end of each session.
Echoing Vanbrugh’s experimental approach to architecture, Playshapes: Castle Constructors encourages visitors to dismantle, reconfigure and rebuild - turning structure into possibility. The installation introduces ideas of colour, form and three-dimensional space through physical play rather than instruction.
Playshapes: Castle Constructors invites people of all ages to rediscover play as a powerful tool for imagination, collaboration and change. In the setting of Castle Howard - one of Britain’s most dramatic and inventive buildings - the exhibition offers a playful tribute to Vanbrugh’s radical spirit, three hundred years on.
Playshapes is created by Yorkshire artist Pippa Hale and supplied by Timberplay.
The exhibition is included in House and Gardens admission tickets.
