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.

Delicate hues and enchanting views

You don’t see light aqua slopes used in LEGO builds very often. But boy do they look nice on this cottage, built by Azurekingfisher. I love how the plate offset gives it texture. The steep roof sections join together seamlessly and act as the perfect canvas for those detailed dormer windows. The ornamental fence elements and window arches really shine here.

Of course, we can’t overlook the beautiful vines and pastel colors carried throughout. The Friends cupcakes make for excellent flowers. While we’ve seen that application before, this palette doesn’t seem like it could be any more perfect. It’s even carried inside to the detailed tile floors.

Azurekingfisher is really talented with striking color palettes and intricate designs. Just take a look at what they’ve done with plant leaves.

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TBB Cover Photo for November 2020: A Cozy Cabin Awaits

One of my favorite annual activities is heading to the mountain where my fam stays at an A-Frame in the snow, so this A-Frame build from, Norton74, immediately brings thoughts of winter and fun.

Where it gets good, and one of my favorite things about Norton74’s builds, is looking at all the details scattered throughout. These details tell the story of this cabin and really bring the build to life, further reminding me of our A-Frame vacay. Take a look at that log pile and saw, cookie rounds for log ends is a smooth move. Seriously, look at those logs. Other notable features that bring me to the mountain include the jagged roof, the abundance of wildlife, and the little doodads scattered here and there.

Now I need to see the inside of this cabin….is it February yet?

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Shopping in simpler times

These days when we go to the store, we’re typically faced with thousands of products. But back in the pioneer days – in the “Wild West” – sometimes only bulk essentials sat on shelves. Typically grocers lived in the same building as their store, and people paid in trades more often than cash. This LEGO trading post by Thomas Gion pays homage to that history. I’m a particular fan of the well, which is executed with a really authentic look, and even “pumps” when you spin the windmill.

The little building is fully furnished on the inside with period furniture and wares from that time.

This trading post is part of a series of western-style buildings, one of which we recently featured.

This modern brick dwelling has got grooves

Sarah Beyer is back with another stunning LEGO modern home. For me, one of the joys of browsing my Flickr feed is seeing Sarah’s process shots. By documenting her builds as she constructs them, Sarah is able to get amazing interior views of all her creations. Upfront, the Greyplate House features an outdoor pool and seating area and some incredible exterior features. There’s amazing repetition in colors and textures going on, all working in harmony throughout its architecture. The tan, olive green, and black brick walls frame the entrance and cut through the center of the house. Using black 1×4 sliding bricks as wall cladding is an uncommon usage, but here they echo the brown awnings and horizontal black panels in the upper portion of the house for a groovy look.

Click here to see some more views of the Greyplate House

Work in progress or finished creation?

Is Katja and Ryan’s LEGO creation a finished work or a work in progress? Well the creation itself is finished, but the church is far from finished and it is nice to see how the structure is being created from the ground up. From the flooring to the pillars to the stained glass windows, the roofing, and the gargoyles. There is also a lot going on around the church on the ground. Among the activity is a small model of what the church will look like when finished. There is a cart delivering a Madonna and Child statue and an artist creating a painting of the church to be. There are a lot of small details to behold. Can you find the poor guy getting sprayed by a skunk in the background?

Sunday best, Sunday bricks

Saxon churches are surely a familiar site in England, but this is also true of the United States as well. This LEGO church built by Pieter Dennison certainly reminds me of some churches I have seen in New England.

Pieter utilizes a pretty simple color palette in this build – two shades of grey for the structure itself and then browns for the ground and what would be wooden components of the building. Much of the ground the building rests on is constructed using the SNOT (studs not on top) technique. The church itself is composed mainly of the usual bricks, slopes, and tiles – this is perfect as these churches were pretty simple brick structures. Some medieval minifigures oversee the reconstruction efforts of the church in this scene, which is fitting as this particular style of church was constructed between 597 AD – 1066 AD. Dennison’s build makes me imagine what “Sunday Best” would look like back in the Middle Ages.

Building bricks from bricks makes for picture-perfect architecture

The Aarhus Royal Custom House in Denmark is said to be architect Hack Kampmann’s finest work. Now, this massive minifigure-scale tribute may be the finest work of LEGO builder Poul-Erik Borre. The design is exceptionally like the actual building, but it’s even more than that. The color and texture work is impressive. Additionally, there is some awesome parts usage going on to create the angles. As someone who has tried to build complicated roofs before, I know this is no easy feat. The use of the modified 1×2’s with flexible tips to get the right shape for the rounded peaks is my favorite aspect.

There is a Youtube tour of the model promised for the future. In the meantime, take a look at Boore’s medieval village, which is featured in the LEGO House.

The play at Chapel Street

As I might have mentioned before, I am a sucker for using the old castle minifigures in creations using intriguing LEGO building techniques. Something about the mix of classic and modern just feels right to me. Atahlus latest build ticks all the boxes for me. Both buildings are filled with details. I love how the gothic building on the right is symmetrical for the most part, but some of the details are not. The offset between the woodwork and the yellow wall on the left is also quite nicely done. The base on which the houses are built is oddly shaped, which to me, always is a plus. Even the minifigures in the creation are not just there to fill the space; they tell a story (quite literally in this case).

An autumn haven for the Post Master

Imagine a world in which the trees keep their vibrant autumn colors all year round. Vermont and New Hampshire aren’t even that charming, and they make a mint in tourism on account of their autumn leaves! Ayrlego has built such a world in LEGO and it’s called Otoño (The Autumn Isle). Here we see that a post office has recently opened in the sleepy settlement of Hojaroja on the Eslandolan Island of Otoño. When not delivering the mail, the Post Master lives upstairs in his quaint Tudor style home. I can get lost in all these details, particularly the lantern and the rustic chimney. I can imagine standing on that porch and soaking in the autumn splendor. We quite often get lost in Ayrlego’s worlds. Settle in for a while because you can too.

A-Frame Bringing the Autumn A-Game

We are mid-way through October, and autumn, as well as spooky season, is in full effect, Andrea Lattanzio’s cozy LEGO A-Frame home located amongst some beautiful fall-colored conifers is the perfect build to capture the moment we are in.

The key to the main architectural build here is definitely in the tiling – we’ve got plenty of tiling on the roof, tiling for the deck, and more tiling to cover the house’s base structure. Printed tiles also help render the lumber packed away in the left, maybe for firewood. I love Lattanzio’s use of tree limb elements arranged in such a way to create pointed evergreen trees – different colors are also utilized for that autumn color-changing aesthetic. Perhaps the most interesting example of parts used in this work would be the hammer minifigure utensil which is applied in multiples to compose the foundation of the home. Many small details in this build are eye-catching, including the broken stairs leading up to this shack-like a-frame dwelling. Even if some home-improvement is needed on this little getaway house, it still looks like a great place to escape to on an autumn weekend.

Brickin’ the gap

You’ve probably never seen the Golden Gate like this before – so minimal and so orange. Simon Liu really gives us the essence of the iconic bridge down at micro-scale with this LEGO model.

Liu renders San Francisco and Marin County using a variety of light brown slopes and tiles. The star of the build – the bridge itself is comprised of 1×4 tiles, minifigure hands, and binoculars all in a lovely orange color; the use of these parts is clever indeed. The micro-build as a whole sits on some trans-clear blue tiles, which serve as the strait connecting San Francisco Bay and the Pacific Ocean. Although it is a minimal micro-scale build, this model certainly conveys the idea of the revered structure very well.

A Greek Villa al la Bygglek – Courtesy of Ikea

Warm, white, and rectilinear – this can describe a couple things; BYGGLEK boxes produced from the new LEGO-IKEA collab or a Greek Villa on a sunny day in Greece. Jannis Mavrostomos combines both notions into one and creates an epic LEGO house for all to enjoy while yearning for Mediterranean weather.

The backbone of Mavrostomos’s structure consists of two BYGGLEK boxes – what seems to be the small and large boxes combined. The second floor porch is nicely tiled with sand and dark tan colored tile elements of various sizes. There is a lot of great parts usage in this work, one of my favorites being the blue hinged sliding doors on the elevated porch being used as a small shade. The notches of the boxes are utilized heavily with intricate windows being built into them as well as a whole staircase. No house is complete without some plant-life, and Mavrostomos has that area covered – literally by using green tree-limb elements decorated with flowers to serve as candid vines climbing along the corner of the villa. Mavrostomos also adds potted plants to liven up the place. Overall this build is unique because it showcases cultural architecture which is subject matter not often explored in LEGO, it is quite refreshing to see something like this pop into my Instagram feed.

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