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.

Your guide to 153 new LEGO sets now available for 2020, including City, Technic, Star Wars, Architecture and more [News]

2020 has arrived and the floodgates of LEGO have opened with 153 new sets available today. Fans of Star Wars, Technic, Ninjago, City, Architecture, Creator 3-in-1 and even the new Trolls product line have a lot to choose from. The new modular Bookstore is available today as is a new white baseplate. Nearly every LEGO theme has some new sets–it can be a lot to process!– so we have your complete guide right here detailing each and every new set and item.

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, and you can see the complete list of all 153 sets and items after the jump.

See the entire January 2020 wave of new LEGO sets now available

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This huge LEGO microscale city continues to grow

When we last checked in with Christophe Pujaletplaa almost a year ago, he’d just finished adding roads to the microscale LEGO city he calls Microville. It’s now grown to more than 11 meters squared, or close to 100 large 48×48-stud baseplates and gained a waterfront.

Microville 2020 - vue d'ensemble

Christophe has been continuously working on the city since 2010, slowly adding more streets with detailed buildings, along with the occasional larger upgrade. The waterfront section adds new beach real estate and an industrial port next to the airport. Continue reading

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LEGO Architecture 21051 Tokyo skyline takes us to Tokyo Tower, Shibuya, Mt. Fuji, and more [Review]

It’s not often that a LEGO set transports me back home. But regular readers of The Brothers Brick know that I was born in Tokyo and lived in Japan until I was a teenager, so I was incredibly excited when LEGO announced 21050 Tokyo. I’ve enjoyed each of the previous LEGO Architecture skyline sets I’ve built, but how does this one stack up for someone who calls Tokyo their hometown?

Tokyo was revealed as part of the LEGO Architecture skyline series for 2020, alongside 21052 Dubai. Tokyo is built from 547 pieces and will retail for $59.99 USD | $79.99 CAD | £59.99 GBP. Both sets will be available starting January 1st.

Read our hands-on review of LEGO Architecture 21051 Tokyo skyline

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When was the last time you danced?

The new Creator modular comes out January first and, while this is exciting news, the general consensus is that it is rather plain. That would not have been said if this creation by Joshua were the new modular instead. This Dancing Modular is part Dancing House by Frank Gehry and Vlado Milunić, part Krzywy Domek and part funhouse mirror. The dizzying, sweeping windows juxtaposed against curving transparent balconies is a compelling sight to behold, and the garden roof terrace brings a bit of nature to what otherwise might be forboding architectural chaos.

Dancing Modular

The interior boasts some brightly lit, yet quaint, well-appointed spaces such as this one. Continue reading

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Hands-on with 21052 LEGO Architecture Dubai [Review]

The LEGO Architecture sets have recently taken us to London, Paris, Shanghai, and New York, amongst other famous world cities, but the latest places to receive the LEGO skyline treatment are Tokyo and Dubai. 21052 Dubai depicts five famous landmarks of the United Arab Emirates’ most populous city, contains 740 pieces, and will be available in January 2020. It will retail for US $59.99 | EU €59.99 | UK £54.99.

Join us as we take a detailed look at this new stop-off on LEGO Architecture’s world tour…

21052 LEGO Architecture Dubai Review

Read our full review of 21052 LEGO Architecture Dubai

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Take a trip to Japan and the United Arab Emirates with the new LEGO Architecture 2020 sets [News]

If you’re not a fan of stage performances, but still want to go on a world tour, the new LEGO Architecture sets may find themselves on your 2020 shopping list. Two new sets, 21051 Tokyo Skyline and 21052 Dubai Skyline have just been revealed by Polish retailer Remix Kaja. It’s not the first theme’s visit to the United Arab Emirates, as 2016 saw 21031 Burj Khalifa set. This time, the tallest skyscraper in the world is surrounded by a number of other world-famous buildings. Unlike Dubai, this is the first appearance of the Tokyo landmarks in the LEGO theme. Naturally, the Tokyo Tower and Mount Fuji are here along with other Japanese symbols — both architectural and natural. We expect both sets to be available in stores early January 2020.

Don’t miss the rest of the LEGO lineup for 2020:

Click to check out all the new LEGO Architecture sets

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Send those undead warriors running back to their mummies!

I love winning. Nothing quite compares to the thrill of victory, whether that is beating your friends at a casual game of Scrabble or annihilating your four-year-old son in an epic basketball throwdown where you channel prime Wilt on a six-foot net. John Snyder loves winning, too, and also loves seeing the bad guys lose. In his latest massive diorama, John depicts the forces of the wicked Desert King, a resurrected mummy-wizard, being routed by the armies of good Queen Ylspeth. I haven’t seen this many mummies running away since Brendan Fraser was a major Hollywood star, and it looks great. Everywhere you look, there are highly detailed buildings, ornate arches, intricate domes, meticulously-laid streets, and more.

The Grand Victory at Al Tajir

See more of Al Tajir here

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A brand new take on a true classic castle

Growing up, I was lucky to have one of LEGO’s early sets in the castle theme, 375 Castle, which, along with several classic space sets catapulted my LEGO building creativity to a whole new level. And it seems I am not alone in my nostalgic feelings for this set. Galaktek has built a LEGO model inspired by this set, featuring a central section, with four hinged wings that open up for further play and display options. This one perfectly represents feudal Japan with an arched front gate, very detailed stone foundations and vegetation, and a lovely pagoda with ornate gold details.

Ninjago Castle - Front

And if this castle mash-up feels familiar, it’s for a good reason. You may have seen this model in person if you were in Seattle for Brickcon 2019 in early October, where the builder had several castles all built as an homage to the original castle LEGO set. We also covered another of these castle mash-ups recently here on TBB.

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This house flirts with Brutalism, but don’t we all?

There are several ways to relieve stress; meditation, good diet, adjusting your jazz intake from acid to smooth. Or you can take a gander at Sarah Beyer’s Artsand House and imagine yourself relaxing among the many verandas and green spaces. See, don’t you feel better already? Sarah tells us that to engage in this house is to flirt with Brutalism. (We’ve all been there, right?) All kidding aside, her meaning has nothing to do with batting eyelashes at someone who might be a toxic thug. Brutalism, in architectural terms, is a style of building that emerged in the 1950s and is characterized by imposing monolithic concrete slabs and rigid, often cold geometry. This style works effectively with courthouses, police stations, town halls, prisons, often big municipal buildings of importance but rarely do we state that Brutalism can describe a relaxing and lovely home. But in Sarah’s hands, this is the case.

Artsand House MOC. Front garden.

Click here to see more of the house.

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On a brisk Autumn night

Sometimes we build things that we’re just not that into. Kevin Peeters tells us he’s not entirely happy with this Burac Keep but we like it. Maybe it’s just the spirit of Halloween talking, maybe it’s the build techniques, the crumbling, haphazard bricks or maybe it’s because this is just the kind of thing you’d see in New England on a brisk Autumn night. Or maybe it’s because we know a good thing when we see it. But we like this; we like it a lot. Here’s another time we totally liked something Kevin did.

Burac Keep

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Lazing on a sunny afternoon

We’re big fans of the stylish architectural LEGO creations of Swedish builder Sarah Beyer. She has a knack of turning our favourite plastic building material into classy modern homes we’d love to live in. On top of the undoubted building skill on display, the presentation of the models is always immaculate. This image of her newest build is a case in point. It showcases the use of textured bricks and tiles to create a smooth-yet-detailed look, and the quality photography is reminiscent of imagery you’d find in a high-end homestyling magazine. Who wouldn’t want to spend a few hours lounging in those chairs, enjoying a cup of tea and taking in the garden view? Lovely.

LEGO Architecture Interior Modern House

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What is this, a mall for ants? It has to be at least...three times bigger than this!

When laying out my list of things I would love to build someday from LEGO bricks, a shopping mall would be far down the list. Just kidding, it would not make the list. Malls are good for one thing, in my opinion, and that is serving as locations for LEGO stores. However, if a shopping mall wanted someone to build a LEGO version of it, and was paying for it, I’d be all over that. And that is what happened for architectural wizard Rocco Buttliere. He built this stunning layout of the Hawthorn Mall, showing the expansion that they are planning to do with mixed use commercial/residential units. It looks sleek and epic, and dare I say sexy, despite being a mall.

Hawthorn Mall Commission

See details of the mall below

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