Place (Village) by Rachel Whiteread, V&A Museum of Childhood

A permanent art-work display of approximately 150 dolls' houses will be coming to the V&A Museum of Childhood on 25 March – joining the collection of more than 100 already at the museum.

The new large-scale artwork, entitled Place (Village), is the work of Rachel Whiteread, famous for her sculptures, reversing interior and exterior space in order to reveal a new perspective. Breaking away from her usual medium of casts, this time the reversal will be done through lighting: the houses will be lit from within, but deserted – devoid of almost everything but wallpaper and carpets – their emptiness evoking haunting memories and melancholy.

The dolls' houses themselves have been collected by Whiteread over 20 years, all acquired second hand (in antique shops or on websites such as eBay), and arranged on stepped platforms, evoking a sprawling hillside 'community'. The installation encapsulates a variety of architecture, ranging from Georgian mansions to Tudor cottages to Modernist fortresses, some handmade and others manufactured – but all, stresses Whiteread, have been loved, and have had 'a life before'.

Place (Village) will be on permanent display at the V&A Museum of Childhood from 25 March.