Tag Archives: Architecture

LEGO provides the perfect medium for recreating the buildings and landmarks of the world — LEGO has even released a line of official LEGO Architecture sets. Check out our coverage of the official sets, and don’t miss all the gorgeous architectural models created by LEGO fans from around the world.

Stained glass in Shanghai

The last time builder Hugo Huang shared an architectural build, it sent me down a research rabbit hole of light boats, German brewers, and Chinese occupation. Once again, Hugo uses LEGO to recreate a historic sight that’s too obscure for the travelogues but reveals a fascinating history. The Catholic Country Church, lovingly recreated in brick yellow and sand green by Hugo, was designed by architect László Hudec and completed in 1925. Hudec was a Hungarian who served in WWI, was captured by Russians and imprisoned in Siberia, jumped a train, and escaped to Shanghai where he joined an American architectural firm before starting his own practice. In the following decades, he designed many landmark buildings in the city, including several churches.

Catholic Country Church,Shanghai

Hugo’s LEGO version is a fitting tribute with wonderful stained glass windows made of transparent cheese slopes, and incredible domes made of sand green aloe vera points from the succulent collection. I love it when a LEGO creation introduces me to new building techniques as well as fascinating facts about our world!

Tiny tower tribute to a legend

Microscale models of official LEGO sets aren’t hard to come by, but microscale tributes to original builds are much rarer and more personal. If ever a personal build was worthy of a microscale spin, it’s Bridgetown by Markus Rollbühler. Christian Rau lovingly adapts Markus’ masterpiece with the ace architectural artistry the builder is known for. Markus’ build was itself inspired by an illustration from Leo Hartas. Who will be inspired by Christian’s build and where will that creation end up, I wonder…?

Bridgetown en miniature

Château de Chenonceau shines in LEGO

In between competing in another Iron Builder competition and contributing to New Hashima, builder Gerrit Gottschalk (gGh0st) spent much of 2024 working on his microscale masterpiece — a model of Château de Chenonceau. The 16th-century French castle sits in the Loire Valley with its bridge and gallery crossing the river Cher. Gerrit’s model consists of about 6,600 LEGO elements and is 80 cm long.

Château de Chenonceau (2)

Building in the Architecture style at this scale was a new adventure for Gerrit but you wouldn’t guess it from the end results. It’s a remarkable build filled with innovative parts usage and a high level of detail that remains virtually seamless.

Click for a detailed look at Gerrit’s majestic microscale castle !

A captivating cathedral’s fantastic façade

Prepare to be transported to the heart of Gothic architecture thanks to Kit Nugent‘s stunning LEGO “St Bley’s Cathedral.” With its towering spires, intricate rose windows, and stately arches, the model captures the grandeur and reverence of a twelfth- or thirteenth-century cathedral.

The rose window is a true highlight. We’ve seen printed stained glass on sets like 21601 Notre-Dame de Paris, but here the brick-built version (crafted with handcuff elements and minifig action stands) mimics the complexity of stained glass and immediately draws the viewer’s eye. The rest of the build is no less arresting, though. From vaulted arches to the narrow, soaring spires, every detail emphasizes the verticality and elegance of the Gothic style. The monochromatic grey palette enhances the build’s realism, with carefully layered textures adding depth and dimension without the need for color. Small touches, like statuesque figures nestled in niches (each one slightly different!) and decorative elements on the spires, finish off the build. Altogether, it does what cathedrals are meant to do: invoke reverence and awe.

St Bley’s Cathedral

The two sides of water, captured in LEGO

Take a gander above and below the waterline in this gorgeous LEGO creation by Carter Witz. Color transitions play a huge role in this build, with light gray showing the dry stone and dark gray emulating wet. Common construction patterns are shown above and below the trans-clear liquid laters. However, the nature of erosion is different depending on where you look. Rooted vines and a tree eat away at the air-exposed rock, while seaweed the current buckle the bricks below. Carter once again shows his prowess working in natural forms.

Flooded City

Rocco’s capital LEGO build of Capitol Hill is a 36,800 piece marvel

“Here, sir, the people govern.” So said Alexander Hamilton as engraved in the US Capitol in Washington DC. Chances are you’ve seen the Capitol in LEGO before, perhaps in the official release from the LEGO Architecture line, but you’ve never seen it like this. Assembled here from over 36,800 LEGO bricks over four months,  Rocco Buttliere‘s model of the Capitol is a masterclass in microscale landscaping and a breathtaking tribute to the heart of American democracy.

Capitol Hill | Washington, D.C.

To differentiate from past builds of the landmark, Rocco chose to recreate the entire 100-acre grounds of the Capitol Campus, which includes the Capitol, Reflection Pool, Ulysses S. Grant Memorial, Botanic Garden, Capitol Steps, visitor center, and tree-lined paths. As with all of Rocco’s creations, the model is built at 1:650 scale, which posed unique challenges in capturing the appropriate detail. Some of Rocco’s solutions used delightfully surprising parts, such as fork facades, microphone lamps, and jewel fountains.

Capitol Hill | Washington, D.C.

Take a stroll down the Capitol Steps with us to view the rest of Rocco’s jaw-dropping model!

Czech out this Art Nouveau modular of a Prague landmark

Few cities can compete with Prague in architectural beauty, where medieval apothecaries stand alongside gothic towers and modernist marvels. Czech builder poMOCník & dirigent found inspiration in the Prague Municipal Insurance Company building, turning it into a lovely LEGO modular. The building was constructed between 1899-1910 as part of the Art Nouveau and Neo-Baroque movements and features ornate arches, statues, and a colorful mosaic, all of which are captured here in brick. Bionicle and Robo Rider elements in “brick yellow” (better known as tan) are a clever solution for the organic curves of Art Nouveau. I especially like the gold and green used to create the patinaed gate on the ground floor.

Pražská městská pojišťovna

Well, well, well, what do we have here?

For a lot of treasure hunters, the real treasure was the great LEGO builds we found along the way! This build by Eli Willsea portrays a pair of adventurers delving deep into a empty desert ruin, but what it really shows off is a trove of fantastic building techniques! Down on the floor of the lost well the cracked tiles are made from the immensely useful cheese slope, but did you notice they’re embedded in 1x2x3 windows? On the back wall, Eli uses those windows again with minifigure brackets as decoration. Finally, if you take a look at the well itself, you’ll see that it’s a combination of cheese slopes and 1×1 bricks with sideways studs which fit so well inside an 8×8 dish!

Into the Well

Cyber-statue scrutinizes samsāra

If you need a place to say a prayer to the ghost in the shell or the god in the machine, look no further than this LEGO cyber-punk temple by Liu Di Kai! This holy site borrows pieces from a bunch of different LEGO action product lines. The building on the right is decorated with the heads of the Hero Factory villain Xplode, the swords higher up on that tower have been a staple of Ninjago since 2021, and the swords above the statue are from Monkie Kid 2023. Speaking of the statue, this one is modeled after Avalokiteśvara who was given eleven heads by Amitābha – in this case borrowed from C-3PO. What would you pray for at this statue? A sword? Cyber-shoes? I’d want some extra arms to play drums with!

Source Of Strength

Thai-style church gets the LEGO architecture treatment

While the LEGO Group may have only just released the first set based on a house of worship with  21061 Notre-Dame de Paris, churches have long been a popular theme for adult builders, whether coming from an interest in architecture, history, or faith. Inspired by a recent trip to Thailand, builder Anne Mette Vestergård recreates a landmark church very different from the cathedrals and chapels more often seen in LEGO: the Holy Redeemer Church of Bangkok. Built in 1954, the church is built in the style of traditional Thai temples, with square columns, stacked gables, enameled tiles, and decorative chofa along the roof edges. Anne Mette does a phenomenal job recreating the details in miniature, down to the microscale cars out front. Unikitty tails in white integrate surprisingly well as a Thai-style flourish. But it’s that colorful tile roof in the distinct Thai palette that makes the church sublime.

LEGO Holy Redeemer Church Bangkok

Danish builder Anne Mette creates large-scale architectural models professionally, mostly at minifig scale, for public viewing. Whether you’re interested in Nordic history, theme parks, or LEGo as a medium to explore current events, her works are well worth checking out.

Half-timbered LEGO cottage goes full goth

Half-timbered Tudor architecture is a favorite subject for LEGO castle builders. Peter Botcher has become adept at the style while making his mark by adding a pitch black sense of humor and goth gloom to his works (he even made his own tombstone out of LEGO). For his latest cottage, Peter impresses with use of color, especially the mossy brickwork and the splash of magenta vines against the black roof. He finds creative variations for the timber on the facade, including tail pieces and corner tiles. The model is titled “Nobody’s Home,” but the smoke coming from that spooky chimney, adorned with unholy accoutrements, suggests otherwise. Enter at your own risk!

Nobody's Home No. 2 1st pic

A deluxe hotel for the deluxe LEGO traveler

With tons of LEGO bricks in pastel colors and plenty of curved lines, Hotel Deluxe by Andrew Tate really packs a punch of brick built nostalgia. The business is alive with the hustle and bustle of so many minifigure travelers, carrying in their luggage, dining at the patio tables, snapping shots of the impressive façade, or even sunbathing on the roof. The round windows in light aqua have got to be my favorite touch here, forming what would be a quartet of rectangular windows into a circular portal through the use of some 6-wide arch pieces.

Hotel Deluxe

And if you’re looking for things to do while staying at the Hotel Deluxe, be sure to check out all the other amazing LEGO buildings by Andrew in our TBB archives.