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.

Le Château de Chenonceau of the Loire Valley

Spanning the river Cher in the Loire Valley, Château de Chenonceau is one of the most charming castles of France. Built in the early 1500s the place have seen many owners. Today it belongs to the Menier family, who are famous for their signature chocolates. Last year we got acquainted with the chocolate box château thanks to a wonderful microscale model by Isaac Snyder. And now it’s Aaron Newman turn to wow us with an off the charts model of the castle. Full of the tiniest elements the building is much larger than one might think; the final model measures more than 12″ (31cm) tall, 17″ (44cm) deep, and 40″ (102cm) wide!

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Veni Vidi Vinnytsia!

It isn’t every day you see historic Ukrainian landmarks in LEGO-form, but flambo14 has risen to the challenge with his delightful version of the Vinnytsia Water Tower. The structure served as a water tower from its construction in 1912 until 1920, was used as a watchtower during World War II, and was transformed into a museum by 1985. My favorite aspect of the build is the use of hinged angled plates to recreate the shape of the gray masonry on the first floor.

Awesome model of Dazheng Hall marks grand opening of 1st LEGO Certified Store in Northeastern China

LEGO Certified Professional Prince Jiang has created a splendid replica of Dazheng Hall, a historic landmark from the Northeastern Chinese city of Shenyang. Dazheng Hall is the oldest part of the Shenyang Imperial Palace, which was built in 1625 and served as the home of the Qing Dynasty’s first three emperors. Prince Jiang’s model was built to kick off the grand opening of the LEGO Certified Store in Shenyang’s Joy City Shopping Mall.

Click to see more of Dazheng Hall

In a world without trains....

The post-apocalyptic world of Robert Maier has not been kind to the world of trains. Scarce resources have given to overgrowth and decay, with the former railway line now serving as a trail for weary explorers. Maier’s traveler had best watch out for trouble because trails also provide opportunity for predatory thieves. The major post-apoc elements are here: drab & weathered-looking colors, pock-marked masonry, plant overgrowth reclaiming the land, and even a super-mean looking chainsaw-wielding thug with a mohawk. Approach with extreme caution!

Living in a desert is no excuse to give up style

While Sarah Beyer‘s Olive Sand House is not what one might imagine when they hear “living in a desert”, it does look both adventurous yet strangely comfortable. Sarah is a master of contemporary architecture in LEGO and has created many unique LEGO houses before. This latest one is not so much unique in an architectural sense, but all the building techniques make it an easy favourite for me.

The Olive Sand House is a treat when it comes to textures. There are grilled sections on the walls and the whole roof has a very satisfying grilled texture to it too. We tend to talk about colour blocking most often in sci-fi creations, but it is very much an important feature of this (admittedly nearly futuristic) building. Another important factor is the landscaping around the house, giving it some context. There are some interestingly used parts as well, most notably BrickHeadz glasses used as fence on the balcony, the same technique that just appeared in the Creator Expert Roller Coaster.

An exercise in microscale

What I particularly love about building in microscale is that it makes you value every single piece and every spare stud of space. When a tiny 1×2 slope becomes a very huge section of the building’s roof you become very careful with planning your creation. And Marco De Bon‘s tiny quarter is a brilliant example of careful planning and very nice execution. Despite a very limited variety of pieces and colors, this neighbourhood looks both elegant and surprisingly diverse. My favourite part would be those small balconies of the white apartment building; the use ofplate 2 x 4 wedge‘s shape is just stunning.

LEGO Architecture 21042 Statue of Liberty and 21041 Great Wall of China officially unveiled [News]

LEGO has unveiled the next two additions to the Architecture line as the towering 21042 Statue of Liberty and 21041 Great Wall of China. Lady Liberty has 1,685 pieces and will sell for $119.99 USD. The Great Wall has 551 pieces and will sell for $49.99 USD. Both sets will be available June 1.

Get a closer look at the new LEGO Architecture sets

Around the world in 80 studs

These mosaic sculptures by ZiO Chao have so much depth, they’re bordering on bas-relief. We’ve shared ZiO Chao’s landmark sculptures before, and he is back at it again and is ready to take us on a trip around the world with a series of 3D mosaics.

Click to continue touring the world with the rest of the mosaics

It’s not the beauty of a building you should look at, it’s the construction of the foundation that will stand the test of time

Taking a break from creating stunning LEGO characters, Finnish builder Eero Okkonen has assembled an equally-stunning, 360-degree city block filled with gorgeous early-1900s modular buildings. Each of the four buildings (“Grand Hotel Masaryk”, “Olofslott”, “Louhi” and “House of the Brick Wall”) has its own unique style and charm. But the block as a whole still feels very cohesive.

Eero says he began sketching the design for his creation after a train ride from Helsinki to Tampere. His design incorporates Finnish Jugendstil (Art Nouveau) elements and tries to avoid 90-degree angles wherever possible.

Click here for more photos of Eero’s LEGO city block

Cool off with this Hot Piece of Waterfront Property

If you’re traveling through Northern Italy, you might encounter the picturesque city of Lecco. In his latest masterpiece, “Memories of Lecco”, Dario Minisini chose to model a representation of the city’s renowned waterfront architecture. I really enjoy the overall composition of this model, which has made an excellent use of color. The brown and lavender buildings make for an excellent contrast to one another, and the mixing of old light yellowish-gray and light blueish-gray bricks creates a vintage-looking patina that feels authentic.

There is certainly no shortage of charm here. What makes Dario’s model so memorable is the amount of thought and effort that went into incorporating so much detail. A look at the tree with half its leaves missing suggests Fall must be right around the corner. Weathered-looking roof shingles are made possible with parts such as the boat oar, and the benches utilize classic Fabuland fences to great effect.

Micro Taj Mahal fits in the palm of your hand.

Building a microsocale landmark is a fine art of choosing the right miniature detail that makes your model instantly recognizable. Some landmarks are so iconic that it might seem like this would be too easy. Not so! Finding the perfect detail part can be challenging. In this model of the Taj Mahal by Jay B, several recently introduced parts provide great details, but might not be the first thing that a builder would think of.

This model reminds me of one of the very first models that I posted on Flickr over 5 years ago, using a much more limited supply of parts.

An artistic representation of a building of art

The National Gallery of Art itself is a wonderful piece of architecture all on its own. Builder wrtyler constructed a brick-built replica of the West Building that’s more than worthy of an official LEGO Architecture set and then some. It’s amazing what a little lighting can do to bring life into a simple structure.

The actual West Building has at least 3 acres of skylights covering its roof. According to wrtyler, it was a challenge to replicate that roof with LEGO transparent tiles while having the right structure in place to hold it up. At least 500 transparent cheese wedge pieces were used in total for both wings to give the intended effect.

Click to see more photos of wrtyler’s creation, including how this LEGO museum fits into his larger National Mall project

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