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.

One stop fish shop

This multi-storey LEGO fish market built by Glaz Pimpur is a microcosm of bustling city life. It’s also one of those builds that rewards a top to bottom scan, with each level offering up its own special treat.

Fish Market

Starting at street level we get to see all manner of produce being brought to market. Is that a shark in the back of that truck! Above the gates there’s some nifty part usage, with trans orange boulders  doubling as lanterns. Carry on up the façade and it’s time to show off some excellent typography work in the form of the brick-built fish Kanji. Just when you think its done, the model reveals a final rooftop surprise: an authentic temple, where you can finish your shopping trip off with some tai chi practice.

Templae at the top of Fish Market

Mr. ROBIN’s NeighborHOOD

Hong Kong builder, mamax711 brings us his rendition of Robin Hood’s home. It’s an excellent fit for the medieval rogue, right down to the organic-looking shape of the building, the patchwork, and plant growth. Robin’s home would be well-hidden in a dark forest. I love the non-traditional angles of the walls and roof-lines and would love to see the interior framework holding everything together. Since this is Robin Hood’s house, I am guessing it will have to remain a secret.

Back to the Old Good Times Robinhood's house

Incredible LEGO microscale city is 8 years in the making and not done yet

For Christophe Pujaletplaa, a LEGO city is a living thing that grows and evolves like a real city. Having begun in 2010 when he rediscovered his childhood love for the plastic bricks, Christophe continues to expand and update his tiny LEGO metropolis, which he’s dubbed Microville. Only, it’s not so small anymore, rounding out at nearly 50 large LEGO baseplates, or more than 7 meters squared.

Microville - 2018

Even when Christophe started in 2010, he had lofty goals, already planning for a much larger microscale LEGO city than most of us have ever attempted. When he began, he used whatever bricks he had in his collection, and augmented them with cups of red bricks from his local LEGO store.

Click to continue reading about Microville

Your guide to 112 new LEGO sets now available for 2019, including City, Technic, Star Wars, Overwatch and more [News]

2019 has arrived and the floodgates of LEGO have opened with 112 new sets available today. Fans of Star Wars, Technic, Ninjago, City, Overwatch, Architecture and even Captain Marvel have a lot to choose from. It can be a lot to process, so we have your guide right here detailing each and every new set.

Some regions have seen these sets on shelves already. but now they are all available online. There are a few sets that really stand out to us, but you can see the complete list of all 112 sets (plus a dozen new key chains) after the jump.

See the entire January 2019 wave of LEGO sets now available

Revisiting a classic castle on New Year’s Eve

Ringing in the New Year is all about reflecting on the past and looking toward the future. John Tooker has accomplished both with his modern take on the classic LEGOLAND yellow castle (set 375), originally released in 1978. John’s model is not an exact replica, as it features some different windows and does not swing open like the original set. However, it possesses the basic form and enough key features to make it immediately recognizable. The castle looks wonderful in tan, which was not officially available back in 1978. However, it’s an appropriate choice, given that the LEGO Group’s official name for the color is “brick yellow.” John also makes good use of darker colors with landscaping, including olive green vines climbing the castle wall. The period-correct castle minifigures and brick-built horse look right at home in their new abode!

LEGOLAND Castle Revisited

What lies inside the tower of a corner townhouse

I really love this simplistic yet almost mysterious corner townhouse built by Nybohov Creation Ltd. The tower takes a different shade that does not match the rest of the building facade, yet seems pleasantly in place. I tend to let my imagination run wild and think of mysterious permanent residents who have the free will to leave but choose not to. Perhaps it’s those street lamps that remind me of scary exorcist movies. From a building technique standpoint, the dark orange roof stands out using staggered 1×2 slopes, contrasting nicely with the sand blue tones of the structure. Keeping things simple sometimes gets you the best outcome.

LEGO Architecture: 21044 Paris [Review]

Thomas Jefferson once said, “a walk about Paris will provide lessons in history, beauty, and in the point of life.” For those unable to stroll through the famous French city, LEGO set 21044 Paris allows you to bring a piece of the Parisian skyline home. It consists of six famous landmarks, three of which have previously received their own Architecture series sets (Arc de Triomphe, Eiffel Tower, and the Louvre). They are now joined by the Champs-Elysées, Tour Montparnasse, and Grand Palais. Set 21044 consists of 694 pieces and is slated for release on January 1, 2019. It is priced at €49.99 in the EU, but LEGO has declined our inquiry to confirm its US price.

Click to read the full review

Marvelous microscale metropolis

There has been a recent increase in the number of microscale city blocks in the world of LEGO creations, which could be partly a result of our 2017 Creation of the year by Jeff Friesen. Wherever the inspiration is coming from, I am thrilled to see so many builders stepping up to build in this challenging and fun scale. Here we see the 4th micro city district by Marco De Bon which is dominated by a central plaza with a massive three-tower building which would look right at home in any major city. The three separate buildings in the back have the look of luxury apartments, while the skinny shorter buildings on all four sides look like they might be low-income tenements.

Lego microcity: fourth district

See more of Marco’s microscale city districts

For Hong Kong’s finest fishing, take me to Tai O

Hong Kong’s bustling urban atmosphere is exciting, but sometimes it’s nice to take some time out to relax and enjoy nature. It’s worth hopping on the MTR bound for Lantau Island, where you can visit the quaint fishing village of Tai O. Alanboar Cheung has captured the spirit of Tai O in LEGO-form, right down to the green mountainous landscape behind it. He has included the town’s famous stilted homes, a dragon boat, and the squat-looking sampan boats. One of the sampan even features a traditional Tai O water wedding.
 
LEGO Tai O 大澳
 
This head-on shot of the display is great for honing in on all the tiny details. Techniques like forced perspective and layering also help maintain the illusion of depth. Take me to Tai O!
 
LEGO Tai O 大澳

The mighty walls of Carcassonne

For about the past decade, LEGO castle builders have trended towards what I like to call a ramshackle aesthetic, with precariously towering walls and gravity-defying roofs attached with a song and a prayer. It’s natural that builders would flex their chops in that manner, as that painterly style requires a great deal more skill than the simple, studs-up brick walls of classic castle sets and many early castle builders. However, equally difficult is building more traditional, real-world castles and avoiding the dreaded “grey wall syndrome” of thoroughly boring architecture. Isaac Snyder‘s walls of Carcassonne accomplishes this excellently, featuring a short segment of the French city’s fortifications. The walls and even roofs are no less detailed than any you’d find in the more ramshackle style, yet are thoroughly grounded in authentic style.

CCC XVI: Walls of Carcassonne

Perhaps next time Isaac can include a road though, as I’ve been needing a straight wall segment with a road to complete my city for ages!

The Interlace – an organised disarray of an architectural design

The Interlace is an exquisite, award-winning design of a residential apartment in Singapore. The seemingly disarrayed yet artistic placements of the apartments makes it stand out. The layout resembles layers of blocks stacked on top of each other at odd angles, forming a maze-like arrangement. This LEGO Architecture styled custom build by Daniel Stoeffler captures the real-life buildings elegantly in LEGO, with 2×1 grille parts for the windows.

Interlace_AV

See more views of this Singapore landmark and compare it to the original

LEGO sales and deals on Amazon for Cyber Monday Week 2018 – LEGO Star Wars, Jurassic World, and more [News]

If you haven’t blown your holiday LEGO budget on the Black Friday deals from the LEGO shop (which go through Cyber Monday tomorrow), Amazon.com is spinning up its “Cyber Monday Week” sales, with a number of great deals on LEGO sets.

LEGO Star Wars 75218 X-wing Starfighter on Amazon

We’ve picked a few highlights, but you can see everything on sale the Amazon.com LEGO deals page.

LEGO Star Wars 75218 X-Wing Starfighter


LEGO Star Wars BrickHeadz 41629 Boba Fett


See more LEGO sales and deals from Amazon for Cyber Monday