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.

Send my mail to Stormhaven

In the tiny settlement of Stormhaven, there is a post office built on platforms that raise above mangrove flats on wooden stilts. It’s like the opening line to a really great pirate novel, isn’t it? That is the kind of adventure Ayrlego has in store for us with this charming LEGO creation. He alludes that there has been a pirate raid last year but you wouldn’t know it as the denizens here seem quite at peace. I love the textures of the roof and siding. The raised docks and aforementioned mangrove trees are both excellent touches. I want to live in this world for a little while, even if just to collect my mail at this amazing little post office. Fanciful historical architecture and incidentally more than a few post offices seems to be Ayrlego’s thing. Settle in to see what I mean in our archives.

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Three (thousand) bricks in the fountain, each one seeking happiness

The Trevi Fountain in Rome is one of the Eternal City’s most famous landmarks—a stunning piece of architectural theatre, usually swamped by hordes of tourists tossing coins into the water as they follow the advice of the Sinatra song. Luca Petraglia‘s excellent LEGO creation depicts the fountain without its attendant crowds, meaning everyone can get a decent view of the beauty on display. A 1.5m wide brick-built version of the Palazzo Poli offers a dramatic architectural backdrop to the fountain itself, its triumphal arch framing the central statue of Oceanus. I love the simplicity of the colour choices in this model, ensuring the trans-blue waters of the fountain really pop against the stark backdrop. Luca says the statues themselves were designed by fellow builder Eero Okkonen—it’s nice to see his character builds given such an impressive setting.

Massive LEGO Taj Mahal goes above and beyond the official sets

The Taj Mahal, the world-famous mausoleum built by Moghul Emperor Shah Jahan, has seen three official LEGO versions — one in 2008, re-released in 2017, with a new Taj Mahal set unveiled in 2021. Although the newest set is smaller, the original and its re-release are famous for being amongst the largest LEGO sets ever produced. So it should give some idea of the complexity and scale of Rocco Buttliere‘s latest architectural creation when you understand the piece count of around 17.5k parts is considerably higher than all 3 of the official sets combined. Rocco is no stranger to being featured on The Brothers Brick, being an undisputed master of microscale LEGO building. However, this model is something special, depicting not just the famous mausoleum building itself, but also the surrounding gardens and compound.

Click to see more pictures of this stunning model

I’ve been to Venice but it never looked this calm

I visited the city of Venice once and I have to admit, there will always be a special place in my heart for that city. It has it all; beautiful architecture, the docks, the bridges over the canals, romantic restaurants serving great food, and last but not least loads of tourists. At some point during my visit, it was hard to see the beauty of the city because there were so many of them/us.
Legooderso provides help for this ‘problem’ by creating the city of Venice in LEGO. They managed to capture all the key elements of the city minus the tourists. The amount of detail on this build is just amazing. A lot of unconventional parts get used as architectural details. We can discover mudguards, cattle horns and candles. Also the little niche with the chicken statue is a very nice detail. I’m not sure if I ever came across a real chicken shrine in Venice but who knows, I might have missed it due to all the tourists.

This glorious microscale build portrays some famous Belgian landmarks

LEGO builder Ben Vijle has designed this incredible microscale cross-section of an area in the city of Ghent, Belgium. The model features the Belfort tower, the Stadshal canopy building and an assortment of shops. The structures are placed on a square stand with textured brick pieces representing roads and pavements while providing the implication of cobbled streets. The most prominent section of the diorama has to be the Belfort tower. The tower has an intricate appearance, thanks to the variety of tile pieces featured in the structure and printed round tiles from the Ninjago sets that serve as clock faces.

The adjoining structure to the tower was originally used as a hall to sell cloth. Claw pieces represent arched windows and adds to the building’s grandeur. Next to the cloth hall there are a variety of unique looking shops. An interesting selection of pieces are used along the street; one of the shops has an ice cream cone piece as its roof while another uses hockey sticks to create columns. Looks like there is even a sushi restaurant along the way if you get hungry.

The other landmark of this build is the Stadshal, which has a triangular design and is presented in brown. The building is used to host markets and concerts and overlooks a small park which has some nice details such as the angled grill pieces used as steps. Across from the Stadshal, there are a few more buildings; one of structures even uses handcuffs to create some of the upper details of its roof.

This is a professional-looking build and would make for a fantastic microscale set. The attention to detail and the interesting variation between the buildings make this an outstanding city scene.

Check out more of our articles on microscale LEGO builds.

Historic Linderei train station at 1:45 scale

Trains remain one of the strongest fandoms out there, bringing tons of people together in the LEGO community. Intent on expanding and upgrading, fans of LEGO trains spend hours and weeks building models such as this for their displays. The efforts often pay off, resulting in beautiful reproductions of real-life landmarks. This model of Linderei Station from 1912 was built by Pieter Post to go along with another builder’s works for a larger display. The beauty of LEGO train builders is they can literally connect their worlds together.

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A modern-day Great Wonder recreated in 9,000 LEGO bricks

The Bibliotheca Alexandrina in Alexandria, Egypt is a contemporary complex of museums and archives, a planetarium, and of course, a library. This modern tribute to the Great Library of antiquity has been recreated from over 9,000 LEGO bricks by that master of microscale LEGO architecture Rocco Buttliere. Measuring nearly 2′ square, the model took around 60 hours to design, and 30 more to build. All Rocco’s effort was definitely worthwhile, as this creation captures the complex shapes of its inspiration perfectly. And it’s not just the central subject which provides a showcase of building skill — don’t miss the beautiful sweeping curve of that seafront road.

As with all of Rocco’s amazing LEGO microscale models it’s worth zooming in for a closer look at the detailing and depth of texture he manages to cram into a tight footprint. I spy some printed window panels from Dr Who’s Tardis deployed as solar panels…

Microscale metropolis is a masterpiece in minimalism

A great LEGO model is not just about building techniques or choosing the perfect part. Lighting and composition are equally important. And sometimes the unexpected little things make the biggest impact. In this skyline by Geneva Durand which is made up of a collection of mostly distinct individual elements, along with just a few small builds, the lighting is one of the best parts, as it fills the city with a sort of golden hour vibe.

I do want to give props for a few very nice parts usages. First, the bridge is made up of ice 2 axes clasped in the middle by a single Minifig hand. A roller skate perfectly fits a brick at the top and a tile at the bottom on the left edge. and right next to that is a large tooth/claw element that reminds me of that famous London skyscraper, The Shard. But my favorite part by far is the vintage sci-fi ray gun.

Reservations not required, but you might need a sword.

Ho, weary traveler. Fatigue stains your face as the dew of the morning stains the grass. But good fortune smiles on thee. For you have found yourself at the Medieval Holiday Inn, by LEGO builder ilive. These walls of patchwork stone, with their charmingly crooked ingots, have shielded sojourners in need of rest for generations. We can’t provide you with cable, or Wi-Fi, or whatever frivolities the lords busy themselves with at the palace. But we have a warm fire, hearty meals, and a giant barrel full of mead. So, step inside and let me show you to your room. You’ll be sharing a bed with Rogan the Terrible. And this pig.

How to build your own pocket-sized Taj Mahal [Instructions]

LEGO currently has two display models of the iconic Taj Mahal available to buy. One that is massive and expensive, and new one that is smaller and more affordable. If you’re like me, poor and easily scared by any number over the £50 price tag, you start wishing for LEGO to produce more and more small microscale builds. Luckily, Luis Peña built a tiny Taj Mahal consisting of just 80 pieces, and small enough to fit in your pocket!

Click to see the instructions

Small columns never looked so good

Here at TBB, we feature all sorts of incredible LEGO builds from all sorts of incredible builders. We’ve seen equally awesome techniques on tiny creations as we have on giant ones. We’ve also seen hundreds of superb towers, pillars, and columns, and in fact, several of them are from this same builder, Ralf Langer. But I particularly appreciate these pillars, at this scale, because Ralf uses simple techniques to produce something awesome. Twisting the internal structure to alternate those pentagonal tiles is truly eye-catching. And the rest just sets it off perfectly.

There are several cool techniques here, but I’m sure plenty of us are making a mental note right now about those columns. I see you over there, trying to consider the reverse engineering so you can borrow it later! Just make sure to give him credit, and while you’re at it, take a moment to appreciate some of Ralf’s other builds.

Microscale Gothic Revival on the Danube

Architecture and LEGO have gone together for a long time. From Modulex in the 1970s to the more recent LEGO Architecture series, the LEGO group has given us plenty of iconic buildings and skylines. This microscale model of the Hungarian Parliament Building, created by Chris Elliott as a gift for his mother, makes use of various elements to emulate the Gothic Revival style of the original. The spires and arches are achieved with bull horns, claws, and inverted fang plates, while cones and bars are used as towers. The ornate central dome’s features are creatively modeled using an eight-side modified hinge plate with fangs held by bar clips. The symmetrical front façade looks out from the eastern bank of the Danube, which Chris has captured with blue plates and clear tiles running the length of the model.

The north and south lawns frame the western side that houses the official main entrance. As on the other side, inverted fang and teeth plates are used to capture the curved details of the original building’s architecture. Grill bricks are partially recessed below the ground line, creating the effect of lancet windows of different sizes around the building.

I think it is quite touching and inspiring that Chris made this for his mother, an immigrant from Hungary to the United States before the iron curtain fell. I’m sure it was a gift that she cherishes. Feel free to check out some more incredible architecture-inspired builds we’ve covered in the past.