Tag Archives: Andrew Tate

A different kind of alley in LEGO city.

Bowling is one of the great underappreciated sports – if I can’t drink a coke and eat a basket of cheese sticks between my turns, it’s not a sport I want to play. That’s why I love this tribute to the game by Andrew Tate. The blend of earth tones and bright blues captures a mid-20th Century feel, during what was probably bowling’s heyday. And, speaking of cheese, Andrew has made incredible use of cheese wedges throughout. Obviously, the designs built into the wall and floor are strike-worthy. But stacking the slopes on the shelves for a quick and clever rental shoe display is perfection.

Atom Bowl

But every alley needs an iconic retro logo to go with it. Check out what Andrew came up with to advertise his lanes. I can smell the rental shoes already!

Atom Bowl

The Metropolitan is an Art Deco marvel that really swings, baby!

This breathtaking LEGO creation by Andrew Tate doesn’t hit the nostalgia feels, but rather gives me a powerful sense of anemoia. In case you haven’t memorized the entire English dictionary, anemoia is the proper term for nostalgia for a time one has never known. Still, that doesn’t stop me from wanting to don a bowtie and ring-a-ding-ding the night away in this swanky nightclub. The colors, shapes, repetition of forms, and rich Deco craftsmanship really make the heart sing. That delivery van though; mmmm, that is a beautiful thing indeed!

The Metropolitan club

Just when you thought Andrew has maxed out on architectural brilliance; this swanky club has an equally posh interior where well-dressed patrons sip their hooch and listen to that lovely canary sing. Sing, baby, sing! It turns out this isn’t the first time Andrew has swept us away to another time and place. Why not hit up the Andrew Tate archives to see what I mean?

The Metropolitan club

Barrels for rooftops

We love it when a LEGO building looks a little but quirky. This creation by Andrew Tate features a cooperage. Funny thing about this building is that it looks similar to the products that are made there. The round roof was realised by laying tan garage doors over a half round frame creating round roofs. The roof makes the building look like it is actually covered with two half barrels. Talk about a great marketing strategy! They’ve got everything you might need: barrels, tuns, tubs and more.

The Cooperage on the Quay

Schedule a stop at the Station Hotel

From near and far, this world and any other, all are welcome at the luxurious and grand Station Hotel. Builder Andrew Tate delivers yet another lushly decorated building, this time in the form of an ornate, four story hotel inspired by Victorian-era architecture. Built at modular scale but sure to dwarf most other buildings that LEGO has designed, this massive corner hotel’s interior may remain a mystery to most looking up at its windows but for those that take up residence within its halls, it is sure one of the most luxurious accommodations Earth has to offer. Black roofing atop the penthouse suite contrasts the dark red brickwork while complimenting the golden filigree and details worked in above the street windows.

The Station Hotel

As the intrepid young traveler we see approaching the entrance has learned, not every Earther is welcoming to extraterrestrial guests such as himself. Thankfully, he’s stayed at the Station before and has known most of the staff, including Howie the doorman, for many cycles. On top of that, since the fountain outside of the hotel’s entrance is a common gathering spot for locals and tourists alike, he’s enjoyed becoming part of such a welcoming community.

The Station Hotel

Looking at the rest of Andrew Tate’s work, I can tell that he’s great at exteriors and interiors alike. As such, I hope one day we’ll get to see the interior of this beautiful hotel. Minifigure me can always dream of his own life of LEGO luxury, can’t he?

We need to talk about this conversation pit.

Andrew Tate has a way with rendering mid-century style in LEGO form. His latest creation is centered around one of my favorite trends of the era – the conversation pit. A conversation pit was a recessed area in the middle of a room that featured built-in seating, designed to encourage socializing. It provided a sort of indoor “around the campfire” vibe. Once upon a time, it was the ultimate cocktail party setting. And this Paradisa Estates floorplan maximizes that party atmosphere with an open kitchen space nearby. Andrew’s done a brilliant job at capturing the style of the era, from the earthy color palette to textural details like the alternating slopes above the built-in entertainment center. So, pour me a Tom Collins and crank up the Jim Croce, because I’m ready to party.

Paradisa Estates

On a trip to Southern Europe without the hassle of traveling

What do you do when you can’t go on your trip to Southern Europe? Right, you just build a mini version of it! Andrew Tate made this lovely LEGO town square with a combination of different European style buildings. The build features a restaurant, a clothing shop, and lots of apartments above the shop and the restaurant.

Mediterranean town square

There are a lot of nice details added to the buildings. One of my favorite elements is the fluted profile brick being used in brown as shutter and in tan as pleated blinds. The 1×1 tiles on the blue building do a great job representing tiles. The sand green building has windows adorned with loaf slopes. One of the things that really make this creation a lot of fun is the number of levels it has and the activity that is going on on each level. Your eyes can scan the picture multiple times and every single time you’ll notice something new. I can already imagine myself sitting on that lovely city bench underneath the blooming gazebo enjoying the busy city life in front of me.

Jazz to your next trip to the bank

This latest creation by Andrew Tate brings some 1920s style to a staple modular of any LEGO city. Standing at four stories tall and topped with a clock tower, Andrew’s Art Deco bank has both the perfect color scheme and expertly designed architectural details. The light bluish gray concrete facade flaunts a variety of textures and geometric patterns, ranging from your standard 1×2 grille and log bricks to 1×1 pyramids and angled tiles. The use of SNOT with tiles achieves a sturdy look fit for a bank, while techniques like the slightly offset dark green cheese slope detailing and gold accents around the windows break that monotony.

Bank

Click here to see get a closer look at the details of this Art Deco beauty

Not your average farmer’s market

No matter what day of the week it is, it’s always nice to go to the local farmer’s market. Not only are the food and goods top-notch, they also have a nice atmosphere. Not unlike Andrew Tate‘s village grocer, which has a charming house rather than tents and food stalls. No doubt the fruits and vegetables sold outside in crates are locally grown, given the small-town feel of the build. The ground floor has a small convenience shop, and the rest of the house must be where the owners live.

Village Grocers

Andrew pays homage to a more famous LEGO grocer, a popular Modular Building set from 2008. The green and tan awning is similarly to the blue and white awning of the LEGO set, and both share the same white Fabuland lamp-posts. Andrew also references LEGO’s Winter Village series with this village grocer’s alpine architecture. It fits right in there, minus the cold and snow. Come to think of it, what’s Winter Village like when it’s not winter?

Moroccan Riad Courtyard

Some people do not mind having studs showing in their creations. Some people strongly dislike having studs showing in their creations. Some people, like Andrew Tate, decide to have the studs showing with a purpose. In this latest model by Andrew, the studs are meant to represent the tiles on the wall. The effect sure is stunning. I am also a big fan of mixing the different shades of blue. LEGO has been pushing out a lot of softer colors ever since the release of LEGO Friends. And it sure is nice to see these colors getting incorporated into non-Friends builds. When it came to the flooring Andrew decided to go full studs-not-on-top which means that most of the floor is held on by gravity and willpower. It must have been quite the challenge to lay this intricate floor pattern. There are a lot of details to discover and this most definitely is a creation that deserves to be zoomed in on.

Riad

Terminally pretty

Hot on the heels of a 1930s downtown street scene, LEGO builder Andrew Tate has now put together this fabulously retro airport arrivals hall. The tiled and patterned floor is a key element in lending this a smooth and shiny look, and the colors create something of a 70s vibe, but the other details are also spot-on. I like the little luggage carousel, but don’t miss the shop with its postcard rack and extensive selection of LEGO newspapers, the information desk and its pigeonhole wall, and most importantly, the well-signposted toilets. Throughout the model, there’s excellent used of official LEGO stickers and printed tiles, which add interest and detail without contributing too much visual clutter. The best bit of all? The map on the wall — fantastic use of quarter-tiles to make for a stylized yet immediately recognizable Mercator projection depiction of the world.

LEGO airport arrivals hall terminal

Everything’s great when you’re downtown

Take a trip back in time with Andrew Tate‘s bustling downtown scene, depicting a LEGO city during the 1930s. There’s a corner bakery, a menswear store, and a lovely cinema featuring the Egyptian architectural motifs popular on such buildings at the time. The streets are nicely busy, with a tram and a period-appropriate car, and packed full of minifigure action. In a refreshing change for a model set in such an era, there’s not a mobster to be seen! I particularly like the variety of colour and styling in the upper storeys of the buildings, and the top-most portion of the cinema frontage is just fabulous.

Welcome to the Coral Hotel, where your ocean view room is ready!

This gorgeous piece of LEGO architecture by Andrew Tate is an Art Deco fantasy. Growing up near beach towns as a kid I saw tons of places like this with names like The Dunes, Ocean Vista and The Tides. They were bright, cheerful buildings with tropical color schemes and sun burned beach goers coming in and out. I was fascinated by the various examples of architecture, which ranged from Art Deco design to that of the Atomic 50s.

The Coral Hotel

Get a closer look at this Art Deco architecture