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.

A brick-built home is always in fashion

When it comes to LEGO houses, Sarah Beyer builds some of the best. We’ve taken a look at her jungle holiday home previously, and whilst this house might be less exotic in its setting, it’s no less accomplished in its construction and fit-out. The tan walls with their black detailing offer a sharp contrast to the feature wall, letting its striping really stand out. The landscaping and planting around the house create a sense of a cared-for property situated in a pleasant urban neighbourhood.

As ever, Sarah has included a detailed interior, including this stylish upstairs bedroom with its floor-to-ceiling windows. However, all that natural light comes at a cost — I notice there are no curtains, so the privacy may be somewhat lacking.

Click here to see more photos of this lovely model

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Living the beautiful life at Villa Arcus

Occasionally, I’ll day-dream about winning the lottery. Usually there’s some fiscal responsibility, but then there’s always a house purchase. That house is typically on the water somewhere, and I certainly wouldn’t mind one with the inspired architecture of Villa Arcus by Jussi Koskinen.

There is a lot to love about this build: The roof line, the windows, the curved walls. My eye is drawn to the gorgeous brickwork on the upper right of the home. This creation features a full interior, too. The techniques go far beyond the outer walls, with fantastic attention to detail in each room.

Check out more pictures, both inside and out, after the jump.
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Shinmizu Village

Some of the best builders are the ones who are constantly trying to push the envelope of what LEGO can do. And arguably, some of the best builds are a tale of two parts. When you get two great builders together, there is no telling what innovative works of art they might come up with. Shinmizu Village by the brother-sister duo of Geneva (Kai NRG/Geneva) and Isaiah (Robert4168/Garmedon)is a great example of such a creation. At first glance, it’s a beautiful little village on a cliff. But there is more to the story! According to the builders, it’s a mash-up between Venice and Japanese design. And apparently, achieving the angles of the layout was quite a feat!

Click here to read more about the two halves of this collaboration!

Mad Scientist modular laboratory complete with mad interiors!

There has been a wave of custom modular LEGO buildings featured here on The Brothers Brick recently, such as the excellent Guild Hall by O Wingård. But to find a modular building with so much character, and full interior details as well was just too much to pass up. This inventor/mad scientist lab by Filip Olin has a ton of great details, so let’s jump in!

One of my favorite exterior details is the use of skeleton legs — in both black, for the railing, and tan for architectural accents on the wall. No workshop would be complete without pipes, and this model features a number of black and grey pipeworks, including one with sludge pouring on the landscaped ground level.

See more detailed pics after the jump

Mayan pyramid of El Castillo at Chichen Itza built from thousands of LEGO bricks

In the ancient Mayan city of Chichen Itza, there’s one temple that rises above the rest as a focal point. The temple is called El Castillo, which means “The Castle,” and it was built to honor a Mayan diety called Kukulkan, or “Feathered Serpent.” Today it’s a major tourist attraction in Mexico and the subject of many pieces of art. This build by 1soko can be placed next to the others as a beautiful rendition of the temple.

The lines on the creation are incredibly impressive. If you’ve ever built something with slopes, you know just how hard it can be to get them right. (And this has slopes on slopes!) It almost looks like it could be superimposed on a picture of the real temple! The only thing that could be more detailed would be the serpent heads at the base of the stairs, but it’s understandable at this scale. Actually, it would need to be many times larger to be the scale of the minifigure standing next to it. Of course, the builder was probably using the character as a size comparison. In any case, this creation is simply outstanding!

Incredible LEGO diorama of London has everything from Parliament to the London Eye

At a glance, this view of London hardly looks like a LEGO model at all. Even though the scale is tiny, builder Rocco Buttliere has packed it with amazing details. Encompassing the famous landmarks on both sides of the Thames, the giant model features the London Eye, County Hall, Houses of Parliament, and Westminster Abbey. Rocco has long been known as the master of LEGO architectural models, from downtown Chicago to the humble Rosenwald apartments, and even a 12-foot long Golden Gate Bridge, and this new architectural masterpiece easily stands with the best of them.

Click to see more of this stunning model of London

Tiny LEGO version of Manila Cathedral

Here’s a LEGO model worthy of a little worship. Gerald Cacas has put together this wonderful microscale rendition of Manila’s Cathedral. There’s an impressive level of detail on display here, with smart texturing around the base, at the top of the walls, and on the dome. My head hurts just looking at the brickwork that’s gone into the belltower.

Modelling an existing building with any sort of accuracy at this scale is an achievement in itself, but to include a detailed interior? That’s just showing off! Gerald does exactly that with a lift-off roof revealing the inside — complete with pews and altar. This is excellent microscale work.

Dive into a tropical paradise

We’ve featured Sarah Beyer‘s tropical holiday home LEGO models in the past, but this latest creation takes her architectural style and moves it out of the jungle and onto the beach. This Tahiti-inspired holiday hut is a delight — a showcase of effective texturing, nice landscaping, and cool water effects.

It’s worth diving-in to take a closer look at some of the details, like the path towards the veranda with its mix of stones and plants…

See more views of this tropical LEGO paradise

Cubes, ribbons and a tree

I sure would live in a house like this one built with LEGO by Tom Remy, but I would not pay for it – it looks needlessly expensive and fancy, without much practical benefits. You know, like most modern architecture. Joking aside, there is a lot of imagination in this build and even though it is mostly simple geometric shapes, the longer you look at this house the more there is to see.

The central theme of this architectural candy is a white ribbon going around the house, performing the task of the floor, the roof and walls all in one piece (but obviously not the same segment). The ribbon dives into the pool that partially envelops the house and the house too encircles a tree in the middle of the yard – which the builder admits looks cool, but would probably be the cause of a lot of problems in real life. Thus recurring theme of different parts encircling each other, as well as bright basic colours and overall smooth design give the build an extraordinary level of consistency.

A stroll down memory lane

Pulling inspiration from actual buildings in New Westminster BC, Canada, David Guedes and Allan Corbeil have pieced together a charming LEGO cityscape full of liveliness and cheer. The buildings and layout feel authentic and the scene captures a general sense of nostalgia.

See lots more of this lovely LEGO city

Greyscale villa is anything but monotone

I’m not sure if Bernopi is an architect or not, but his LEGO villa certainly looks like it was designed by one. With a greyscale colour scheme, clean lines and a hint of International Style, this is my kind of house. I love the tilted roofs that add interest to the box-like style of construction and the main stairs are enticingly simple in appearance. The only LEGO colours used are Black, White, Medium Stone Grey and Dark Stone Grey but the different textures and angles ensure that this creation is aesthetically intriguing and attractive.

I imagine this to be a home with minimalistic interior that is easy to keep tidy. We will have to use our imagaintion as there are no interior images just the views through the window.

Gateway to tranquility

This elaborate architectural beauty is the gate to Kiyomizu-dera, a Buddhist temple in Kyoto, Japan. André Pinto is the architect of this faithful LEGO version, which captures the ornate decorations and the vibrant colors of the gate.

It’s worth noticing that the builder incorporated the intricate lattice in the underside of the roof, which is a huge undertaking but also one with huge payoffs.