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.

Shack up for a long cold night

Is it just me or is there something kinda thrilling about staying indoors? This LEGO creation by Joe (jnj_bricks) has me wanting to pack a good book, some hot chocolate, and maybe a few board games to spend the night in this cozy cabin. Sure it’s a breathtaking winter wonderland outside but there’s blankets and a fireplace on the inside. Plus you really can’t dig into six hours of playing Eldritch Horror if you’re outside building a snowman now, can you? I mean, sure, you should probably admire the amazing build techniques and snowy textures on the outside but the inside of this stunning little cabin; that’s where the whiskey is at. Am I right or am I right?

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Some towers have spires and some towers inspire

There’s magic waiting to be revealed in every LEGO piece, and builders like exis- (or like you, dear Reader) bring it out. In this case, the build itself is quite magical, being a mage tower of sorts. The black roofing and crenellations create a forbidding–or foreboding–presence. However, the tan of the rest of the architecture balances it out. Perhaps this hints at the risk vs reward of entering such a place. Looking closer, you’ll see wonderful details abounding throughout the build. I really like the use of minifig legs for details in the base floor windows. I do recommend taking a trip over to the builder’s photostream to take a look at the wonders that fill the tower’s interior. There’s even a brief video showing off some cool play features.

A beachfront property clad in brown and nougat

LEGO builder Sarah Beyer definitely has a style when it comes to house design. And every time, without fail, I’m left agape staring at yet another architectural wonder, one more take on her core modern look. This beachside house is gorgeous with its brown, black, and medium nougat coloration. I feel like I can make out every slat of wood in this build, thanks to some great tile and plate work. The beams sticking out over the patios are fantastic, especially when paired with the simplistic modern windows trimmed in black. And the landscaping is divine, especially the small irregularly-shaped pool to the right. It’s a difficult design to create in bricks, much less have it feel at home in a build full of right angles. But Sarah pulls it off quite well! Be sure to check out all the details inside and out on her Flickr page.

Travel through space and time with this diorama of Uzbekistan

The LEGO fan community spans the whole globe, and I love traveling vicariously through builds like this one from the well-traveled Lasse Vestergård. This creation allows us to travel to Uzbekistan – admittedly not a place that was high on my destination hit list. But isn’t it beautiful? It depicts the historic city of Bukhara. The blue decorations of the Mir-i-Arab madrasah make use of a lot of flower pieces, depicting the well-preserved paintwork of the real building. And if you thought there were a lot of flowers here, try and work out how many 1×2 plates and 1×1 studs are used in the Kalyan Minaret next to it! My guess is, er, a lot. It’s a tried-and-tested method of making round towers, but the considerable height makes it look like brickwork here, to great effect.

LEGO Creation of the Week (#10): Dracomata by Michael Kanemoto and king box by Pan Noda

Every week readers of the The Brothers Brick Telegram channel choose the Creation of the Week: one project that impressed all of us the most. This week it’s a tie! Dracomata by Michael Kanemoto and king box by Pan Noda both conquered hearts of our readers, getting equal amount of votes.

Meanwhile, the new vote is already on! Join our Telegram channel to follow all the best LEGO creations, latest news, and, of course, vote for your favorites. See you there!

Raise a glass to a clearly important profession

I learned today that a glazier is someone who cuts and fits glass in windows and doors, demonstrating the educational application of LEGO with this colorful build from gGh0st. This workshop build is gGhost’s entry for the Bricklink Designer Program, and it’s an awesome entry! The design of the workshop is amazing with the color palette, the round windows throughout, and the colorful clips used within the roof. I do think it’s pretty cool to use the bar with ball piece for the texturing of the roof, something I’ve not seen before in a build. Notice the use of the transparent pieces along the midsection of the workshop and even the sign–small details that really contribute to the beauty of the profession. This is a great addition to any medieval village!

A bold color towers above the rest

It’s not very often you get to have bold, beautiful colors like pinks and lavenders in LEGO Castle-style sets or builds. This is what brought builder Ben Cossy to construct this amazing scene! Wanting to experiment with non-traditional colors for a castle build, Ben chose the color palette of pink and lavender for the tower and surrounding landscape. The whole scene has a great flow and movement, from the lower areas to the tower’s top. Browns and tans help with the color blocking of the tower, keeping the greys from dominating. There are some really cool building techniques at work in the build here, and Ben kindly goes over it all in a video. I recommend checking it out if your interests lie in the details behind the scenes.

I just can’t contain myself!

You have to admit, container homes have been a hot topic as of late and I’ve admittedly watched a few guided tours of them on Youtube. Are they well insulated? Can I still have a vast LEGO room if I lived in one? What about an art room? And a crafts room? These are all questions I don’t yet know the answers to but it doesn’t make me any less intrigued. Tong Xin Jun may be able to answer those questions for me. This little container home looks pretty fabulous. It’s a simple two-story affair with an inviting front porch and a covered stairway chock full of neat build techniques.

Around the back, the panels are removed to see how container living might look from the inside. That cozy sofa and TV just might be calling my name.

Architecture in black and white

Experienced LEGO builder Ralph Langer is back with another stunningly elegant creation of mysterious architecture. Like Lavender Dream from last year, this build features an otherworldly white structure with a striking presentation. The huge black cobblestones make me wonder if this is located on some ancient lava flow, while I can’t decide if the building itself is more Narnia or Elder Scrolls, though Ralph’s description indicates that it’s some form of Victorian fantasy. Either way, we can all agree that it’s beautiful.

Naturally, there’s history in this museum

I do love a good museum, and this one is made of LEGO no less! This museum from Victor van den Berg offers more than just history to learn and explore. The first exhibit to draw the eye is the great dinosaur skeleton at the back of the first floor. It’s an impressive model, showing off a lot of cool parts usage. But the fun doesn’t stop there! The excellent parts usage extends to the other exhibits and the architecture of the museum itself. I particularly love the details of the white pieces above the animal exhibit on the left. And check out those windows on the second floor and the ceiling above! If you want to take a closer look at everything here, be sure to check out Victor’s Flickr photo stream for more images of the build–I’ll be doing that myself!

This interior looks so good it’s hard to believe it’s only LEGO

Architecture and interior design come together wonderfully in this LEGO build from Dad’s Bricks (Joe). Great care is evident in every little aspect of this piece, from the framing of the composition to the design of the background artwork. The inspiration for the build comes from classical and traditional Chinese mansion interiors. This style features nice wooden furniture and an elegant look to the architecture. The build possesses a fluid movement, pulling the eye through to the plant life and nature-focused artwork. The parts selection is so well thought through, upon first glance you might not realize it’s composed of LEGO. One of my favorite details in the build is the inclusion of a teapot and cups on the back table, giving the interior a bit of a lived-in quality.

A big city on a peaceful island in microscale

What I love about LEGO microscale builds is how it can shift how we see the smallest of LEGO parts. Joe (jnj_bricks) brings this build to life for this year’s Brickscalibur contest in the Medieval Micro category. The city does feel alive with movement from the waterfalls and the vibrant greenery throughout the cityscape. Taking a look at the staircases, they have nice usage of the grooved brick piece at an angle for the stairs. There’s also some nice usage of the 1×1 horizontal clip piece in the buildings and their details. Stacked, the part offers some cool textures to the walls of the leftmost building. My favorite parts usage, though, comes from the battle droid legs for some fine arcing details. You can spot them on the highest spire and the causeway behind the winged minifig statue. There are many more details, so take your time exploring the build. Can you spot the Woody hat?