Show
We Built This City
A wonderland of a construction site that brings whole communities together to think big and build the city shapes of their dreams.

Faced with thousands and thousands of cardboard boxes in a big, open space, children and families follow their impulses and create unique structures inspired by their relationship to their city. Polyglot artists roam the site as the Builders, engaging with kids constructing towering skyscrapers, winding tunnels and sprawling estates.
We Built This City sees children as the experts and adults enthusiastically following their lead. The whole experience is accompanied by a DJ spinning funky music, and at the very end of the season, the city is shaken and stomped to the ground, in a shared moment of glorious destruction.
“It was a joint effort and brought people together like a community should be.” Child
Accessibility
- We Built This City is an energetic, high intensity experience. The performance space contains only empty cardboard boxes.
- Children and families choose how they engage with the artists and the space, moving around as they like.
- A DJ plays music for the duration of the show.
Acknowledgements
We Built This City premiered in 2001 at the City of Melbourne Children’s Week celebrations.