Really, I’ll take anywhere that looks like it has temperatures above zero degrees. No complaints from me if it’s a place as lovely as Gabe Umland‘s Spanish villa. His architecture and location is complemented by several small details, like the vines, hanging planters, and telescope on the balcony, to give the scene a lived-in feel.
Water is quite fascinating, really. It has the power to create and destroy. It has carved the earth over the centuries to create the world we see today. It continues its slow work each and every day.
A bit philosophical for a Saturday morning, but for that, I look to Anu Pehrson who posted this absolutely lovely seaside village. With her build, she focused on how water interacts with stone to create arches and the curves of the coast, which she’s accomplished beautifully.
The University of Chicago Laboratory Schools is a private school affiliated with its namesake. Donors recently provided funding for a new arts wing designed by architects FGM and Valerio Dewalt Train. As a thank you gift to the donors (Mellody Hobson and her husband George Lucas), the school commissioned alumnus and faculty member Dave Kaleta to build a LEGO replica of the new facility.
Since the gift was planned to coincide with completion of the building, Dave was given access to blueprints and even the building site itself. Even though the gift was intended for the Lucas household, Dave tells me that he resisted requests to include a minifig Yoda somewhere in the display, since the donors themselves had insisted that the new building be named in honor of American photographer Gordon Parks (1912-2006).
See more photos in Dave’s album on Flickr, along with his build notes and description of key architectural details.
In addition to 21028 New York City (which I reviewed here a couple of weeks ago), LEGO has also just released 21027 Berlin and 21026 Venice as part of a trio of new city skyline sets.
In contrast to the $60 price tag for NYC, both Berlin and Venice retail for $29.99, and I’ll be reviewing these two smaller sets together today.
Read the full review after the jump!
Jimmy Fortel has built a beautiful microscale model of the Pantheon in Paris. The color scheme makes this look like part of the official LEGO Architecture series – and I’m sure this great little build wouldn’t be out of place in the line-up.
I really like the clean lines and deceptive simplicity of this creation, in particular the use of round 1×1 plates beneath the roof line, adding a nice touch of texture. The pillars at the main entrance are very good, and it took me a while to work out how they were built – the bottom of the pillars are round 1×1 bricks set into the model’s base. This is one of those models which surprises you with how long it can hold your attention, despite its small size.
Seattle builder Dave Sterling has built a LEGO version of London’s Charing Cross Railway Station as it appeared in the late-Victorian period. Dave’s creation formed part of an international collaboration entitled Around the World in 80 days which was displayed at Brickworld Chigaco. Dave has really captured the intricate details and elaborate exterior features representative of Victorian architecture.
A replica of the 70ft high Eleanor Cross was built in the forecourt of the station in 1865, and this is very nicely depicted in Dave’s build by the ornate tall ‘cross’ complete with tan microfigs, masonry bricks and arches.
Click here to learn more about this creation and hear from the builder
Brothers Brick daily covers cool fan-built models and LEGO news, but sometimes we get a chance to highlight a story from the human side of our favorite hobby. This touching story by the State Journal Register, an Illinois newspaper, shows how sometimes LEGO can be more than just a toy or a fun hobby. Sometimes it can be a means for healing.
After his wife, Tricia, died in the spring of 2011, Ray Hofman was having a hard, hard time. They had been married 39 years and, understandably, Ray felt lost.
“It was two years of long, long days,” he says.
The Christmas before Tricia died, Ray’s nephew, Jason Stokes, gave him a present. It was a replica of Frank Lloyd Wright’s Fallingwater home, made out of Legos.
It is on such small things life sometimes turns.
“I didn’t know much about Legos,” Ray says. “When I grew up, it was Lincoln Logs.”
But something about that gift resonated with him.
Ray discovered the joy of receiving a LEGO set as a gift, and set out to bring that delight to others. First he built and donated a Taj Mahal to a cancer treatment center charity auction, but soon fell in love with the idea of building LEGO sets and giving them as gifts to everyone around him, including those who least expected it. His postman received sets for his grandchildren, and a local restaurant owner received a Space Shuttle because Hofman knew he was a space enthusiast. His favorite though, is giving gifts to children, and Hofman’s fridge is covered with heart-felt thank-you cards from children.
Hofman has spent the last two years building LEGO sets and giving them away to friends, family, and charities. “It filled a void,” he says.
Read the full story on the State Journal Register.
I’m not sure whether WhiteBrix is good at surfing, but he does know how to handle a surfboard – or, better to say, 19 of them at a time. Stacked together, these surfboards create a rather winsome skyscraper shape and, moreover, define each floor, which allows you to see the structure of the whole building clearly. And I especially like how that single-story section completes the complex – what a lovely architectural masterpiece!
I’ve traveled to New York City five times in the last two years for work, and it has quickly become one of my favorite cities in the world. I’ve spent most of my time indoors in museums, but I’ve also admired the city’s wonderful architecture — the pinnacle of human art and engineering. LEGO recently sent us a copy of the forthcoming LEGO Architecture set 21028 New York City.
SPOILER! There are a variety of very tall buildings in New York City. Oh, sorry, I’ve gotten so used to writing LEGO set reviews about The Force Awakens that it’s hard to break the habit.
Click through to read the full review!
If you caught the winter blues, then retreat to this cozy sunlit beach home by Michaela Clites (Littlehaulic) and you’ll feel warm in no time. Wander through each room and try to catch all the ocean-themed details and decorations. You can see close ups of the house on the builder’s Flickr gallery.
The Palace of Westminster, known to most as the Houses of Parliament, has been built in 1:650 scale by Rocco Buttliere. The model is making its debut at BRICK 2015, which takes place at the London Excel, December 11th-13th.
Rocco Buttliere is a fourth-year student in the College of Architecture at Illinois Institute of Technology and his amazing 1:650 scale builds, depicting famous skyscrapers and landmarks, have been the main focus of attention. His collection includes models from eleven global cities including Chicago, New York City, Dubai, Paris, Los Angeles, Toronto, Shanghai, Dallas and of course, London.
Following a successful Kickstarter campaign all 43 of Rocco’s models are making their way to London and will be on display at BRICK 2015. You can find out more about Rocco and his models, including digital downloads of his work, on MOCpages.
Root Canal by Lab Synth is a marvelous and thorough design down to the last detail. One can find such an architectural experiment chaotic, but I’d call it extravagant. In the description of his work Lab shared that he had started with that massive golden window, and I can clearly imagine how the whole diorama was growing section by section until such a bizzare interpretation of a Venetian canal was born.
