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 slice of architectural history

eyescream54 certainly has an eye for mid-century modern architecture — this beauty looks like it belongs in Beverly Hills during Hollywood’s Golden Era. The decorative tile work adorning the front of this delightful home is exquisite. The builder has used different shapes and angles, contrasting each other and coming together splendidly. I like the little details like the light above the front door, the air conditioning unit on the finely crafted roof, and the shrub with the purple flowers.

The real surprises are around the back, where the house shows off its sharp lines and beautiful design. An interior is visible through the large ranch-style sliding doors leading out to a private pool and garden patio. Conjuring imagery of glamorous parties and fancy soirées, it’s not hard to imagine Marilyn Monroe, JFK, and Frank Sinatra living it up at a place like this.

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The best creations are those that tell a story

Building with LEGO is all about self-expression and exercising one’s imagination, but creations that tell real-life stories have always compelled my attention. Jeffrey Kong‘s stationery holder and drawer unit is not just a nice decoration for an office desk. In fact it is a tiny copy of the Old National Library of Singapore, which was demolished in 2004. According to the build’s description, the National Library building was one of the symbols of the city, especially popular among students. I love the symbolism of this work, and its neat clean style makes it a brilliant remembrance.

In love of home, the love of country has its rise

This beautiful digital rendering of a Victorian dream home by buggyirk is something straight out of a Dickensian novel. Stunning stained-glass windows and lively gardens draw your eyes into this delicately decorated delight, a weather vane is perched atop the pointed roof of the tower, which complements the multi-gabled roof and lovely designs under the eaves.

Inside is where this model really shines, with masterfully styled Victorian furniture including a grandfather clock, bed, bookcase with candles, baby crib, fireplace and chandelier — each on its own enough to make me want to move in, but that incredible staircase is the icing on the cake. Like many homes, its heart is in the dining room where Mother, Father and Junior enjoy a happy brick-tricious meal together. I have never wanted to own a Victorian home so badly before today.

Himeji Castle, Lighthouse of Alexandria, and other Wonders in LEGO

LEGO Certified Professional Ryan McNaught and his team recently created several Wonders of the World in LEGO, ranging from Himeji Castle in Japan to the Lighthouse of Alexandria in Egypt.

Ryan and his team member Troy Walker built a huge minifig-scale Himeji Castle, one of the last remaining feudal fortresses in Japan. I lived in Himeji for three years growing up, and my family visited the “White Egret Castle” frequently, including the year it celebrated its 650th anniversary. Ryan and Troy’s Himeji Castle includes the distinctive curved stone slope at the base of the castle, built by pressing LEGO bricks in sideways. The whole castle is built from over 71,000 bricks.

Climbing the many flights of stairs to the top floor and looking over the modern city was always the highlight of each visit, unless a samurai movie was being filmed on the sprawling castle grounds. Not only is this LEGO castle impressive from the front, it also has a full interior — even a deep well that extends through the castle’s base.

See more of these LEGO Wonders of the World

The Last Airbender’s Southern Air Temple

The Southern Air Temple was a location in the animated series Avatar: The Last Airbender and the childhood home of the main protaganist in the series, Aang. Micah Beideman has built a LEGO version of the Southern Air Temple, capturing the impressive collection of blue roofed buildings and the tall tower dominating the centre of the white temple. The lower buildings have been built at a nice depth and varying heights to give the model a real ‘temple in the sky’ feel with their steep winding paths. I also like the use of the transparent 1×2 bricks, built up to form the clouds that encircle the temple.

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The Brutalist architecture of the surveillance state

The real world frequently inspires — or creeps into, imposes itself upon — the world of LEGO creations. The Brutalist architecture of many government buildings has inspired Swedish builder Magnus to create this Micropolis section. The building has narrow slit windows, concrete bollards, and an array of communication devices on the roof.

Magnus has incorporated a particularly interesting building technique into his slanted facade, enabling a smooth slope built from 1×2 “cheese grater” pieces.

26 Dorset Street, a beautiful building on the worst street in London

Between 26 and 27 Dorset Street in Spittalfields, London, was a passageway that led to the home of Mary Jane Kelly at 13 Miller Street. Dorset Street had the reputation of being the worst street in London, which is a fitting description for the location of the brutal murder of Ms Kelly by Jack the Ripper on 9 November 1888. Mark Hodgson has clearly being doing his research for this LEGO build as he has accurately captured some lovely details. The ‘sand green’ creeping mold and the good use of old and new light grey for the discoloured paving really gives that dirty old London feel. Mark’s brick-built windows are perfect when looking at the only contemporary photograph and those window arches – well they are simply awesome.

There are many more detailed photographs of the full build (as well as some research images) on Mark’s Flickr album. The entire Millers Court scene includes a street, additional buildings, and a fully furnished interior that includes the unfortunate Ms Kelly’s bedroom and even a grocery business that was located in the same building.

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Warning! Bridge ices before road

Although there is no snow in this little ravine scene by Lukasz Wiktorowicz, it certainly looks like a chilly day to be on that Asian-inspired covered bridge. The composition and muted color palette of this build are both remarkable. I love that Lukasz ingeniously used the old LEGO rope bridge piece upside down to add a beautiful curve to the bottom of his wooden bridge. But my favorite details are the roots and autumnal leaves on those stunning gray trees.

A festive revamp for Turtle Tower in Hanoi

Turtle Tower sits upon an island on Hoàn Kiếm Lake in the historical centre of Hanoi, the capital city of Vietnam. This temple is a famous landmark in Hanoi and has been built in LEGO by Vietnamese builder Hoang H Dang. Given the time of year, some festive artistic license has been applied and the tower is now giving off some serious ‘Gingerbread House’ vibes. The actual architectural features of the temple have been nicely captured, especially the decorative stonework on the roof. The gingerbread decoration is cute with candy canes, a nice colour selection of ‘candy’, and Santa rowing over the island to deliver some gifts.

Hoang Dang tells us that the lake was actually home to a very rare species of turtle which is now close to extinction. The last turtle that used to live in the lake sadly passed away this year leaving his cousins as the only two left on Earth, hence the small turtle on the left of the build.

Fountain Place in Dallas, Texas, in LEGO microscale

Just in time for BrickUniverse in Dallas, Texas this weekend, Rocco Buttliere presents a microscale replica of Fountain Place near the convention. The building is a refreshing sight among surrounding rectangular structures with its interesting angles all around, and Rocco nails it with LEGO bricks.

See more shots of Rocco’s detailed model on Flickr.

Have a prawn or a prayer with these Chinese-style builds

Indonesian builder Anton Budiono‘s latest two builds are both Chinese-style creations in the shape of a seafood restaurant and temple, presumably for quiet postprandial contemplation. Both builds utilise the addition of the same bridge over to a smaller shrine that rests upon wooden decking. There are many details to admire in these builds but the roofs with their decorative ridges and fascia are a particular favourite of mine. There are so many nice little touches to be discovered, such as the telephone handsets forming the beams within the large red front doors or the Mixel ball joints used as structural decorations across the façade.

The seafood restaurant cleverly uses the dark red octopus as decoration in one corner of the building, but Anton’s brick built lobster on the first floor corner is even better and worth a closer look!

While the temple is a little more demure in colour, it also benefits from lots of nice details such as the cascading water feature on the left-hand side or the use of black palm tree tops as the lanterns at the front. There’s more to see around the back on Anton’s Flickr album.

Court of the Lions

There are many beautiful places in the world, and it’s always a delight to see one well executed in LEGO. pérula‘s Patio de los Leones certainly falls into that category. I like the composition of the photo; the central fountain the plaza is quite recognizable. The micro-scale lion sculptures are excellent, especially considering their size!