Tag Archives: Asia

The diverse cultures and complex history of Asia continue to inspire LEGO builders all over the world. China, Japan, and Korea also have large and active LEGO fan communities that contribute to the global conversation through their LEGO models. This page features LEGO models inspired by Asia, coverage of events that happen in Asia, and background about models by Asian builders.

Massive dragon and tiger pagodas stand over 2 1/2 feet tall!

Lee Nuo has graced us with a pair of pretty pagodas modeled entirely in LEGO! These very real (and very visit-able) pagodas in Kaohsiung, Taiwan are equal parts elegant and exciting with mythical animal-shaped tunnel entrances into each building. The animal theming continues up to the first roof of each tower, with miniature versions of their respective creatures decorating the railing. The big dragon – eating some tourists – has a perfectly modeled fringe made of blue flames and Hero Factory lightning bolts. If you like pagodas, there’s more in our archives, as well as more great tigers and dragons (including a certain recent Build-of-the-Year!) I’ve certainly found Lee’s build inspiring and I’d love to go visit some day. If you went, which animal would you prefer to be eaten by?

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Markus Rollbühler’s balance is a showcase of Asian-inspired LEGO artistry

This Asian-inspired LEGO build is Markus Rollbühler’s entry into round 4 of the 2024 RogueOlympics. The theme for round 4 was ‘Balance’. Initially, the builder intended to present a build focused on yin and yang. However, the 101 element limit, a requirement of the Rogue Olympics, proved too challenging to fully realize his vision. The entry was submitted with just one piece to spare, totaling 100 elements. One of the most notable details of this build is that, upon closer inspection, the flowers remain attached to their plastic sprue and have been affixed to the build using rubber bands commonly found, serving as friction bands, with train wheels. And if you think that’s some great part usage, take a look at Markus’s third-round entry featured on TBB.

A LEGO golden dragon “painting” that soars off the canvas

Builder Dad’s Bricks has a reputation for excellent Asian ink paintings made of LEGO. This latest addition to the gallery is a gorgeous golden dragon. But unlike a 2-D ink painting, the model springs to life, popping right off the canvas of plastic along with some surrounding clouds and crags. The colors here are so vivid – angular gold and tan scales standing in stark contrast to the wispy white feather parts coming off the beast. This is most pronounced around the dragon’s face, as its mane of whiskers accentuates the pair of 2×2 round tiles in pearl gold staring directly at you. It’s clear there’s ancient wisdom held within, but only shared with those worthy of such secrets.

An elegant tracery of lines and curves

Some LEGO builds inspire moments of quiet contemplation. This elegant inked fan by Dad’s Bricks evokes that feeling for me. The life-sized shaping is excellent, and the delicate line work created by rods and slightly curved tubing offsets the the bright red of the flowers. Take a closer look and you can spot 1×1 heart tiles in pink, creating a tiny clovers of brightness to contrast to the rich colors. The pen, stand, and brush are almost afterthoughts – but they blend seamlessly into the full image and add real-world context to this piece of art.

Be sure to check our archives for even more artistic expressions in plastic.

A mysterious warrior takes a moment to reflect

This mystical scene comes from the creative mind of W. Navarre. In the build, we see the silhouette of a figure perched on a rooftop, with the roof tiles cleverly portrayed through the use of ball joint plates. The warrior is overshadowed by a bright moon, which has a great variation of textured pieces representing the rocky surface. Waves crash against the house surrounded by a bamboo forest, featuring the use of tan Technic pins as bamboo stalks. The odd angle of the house mixed with the mystical aesthetic makes this one unique display.

The peaceful garden temple

LEGO builds are often quite small-scale compared to minifigures, with buildings occupying the equivalent space of a car, and castles the size of houses. Here builder Andreas Lenander has flipped that script on its head with a temple gazebo scene in a garden that’s the size of many LEGO castles. Unsurprisingly for Andreas, there are lots of lovely details, too, though one of the best might be the minifigure katana holders that make the hanging lanterns on either side of the gazebo.

Intimate, poetic Asian scene in LEGO

LEGO builder Qian Yj is no stranger to Asian buildings. Qian’s latest is smaller, poetic, and more intimate in scope and subject. There is some really good detailing work on display, especially on the second building. The brick-based figures add a good human element to the scene, and the color choices work well here. What’s your favorite detail?

Peace and tranquility and some forced perspective

When I stumbled upon this creation by W.Navarre I had to look twice to confirm it is made out of LEGO. I recognize the minifigure and the cow as LEGO parts but the total shot looks like it’s straight from National Geographic. W.Navarre created mountains as a backdrop. For the mountains, they used different shades of blue which creates the forced perspective in this picture. The dark blue mountains represent the nearest mountains. The further away the mountains are, the lighter the shade of blue of the mountains appear to be. Just like in real life. Using a mirror as a surface to place the build on creates a reflection of the mountains and mimics water perfectly. The total shot of this creation is so realistic it is absolutely stunning! My guess is there are a lot of parts not connected in this build and that gravity plays a huge part in keeping this together which is perfectly fine!

Manglegongsa Temple is a sight to see in this multi-layered and expansive LEGO build

Titled “Manglegongsa Temple”, this LEGO build from Jellyeater1 is multi-layered and expansive. Two buildings are perched on top of a mountain, surrounded by lush vegetation.

Great care has been put into varying the roofs in this build, from the pockets of colors to the simple black and white design. The use of the gold on the second building is just enough to denote significance without taking away from the rest of the scene. The small courtyard with the tree is a nice, pleasant touch.

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Epic LEGO Forbidden City uses over 80,000 bricks and took over 700 hours to design & build!

Yes, you read the title correctly. Rocco Buttliere has used around 84,000 LEGO bricks, to be more precise. In addition to 300+ hours of building to recreate the Forbidden City in Beijing, China, Rocco also spent 400+ hours designing it first. If that doesn’t blow your mind, it should. That is one giant build of one of the world’s most spectacular architectural sites. Like his earlier LEGO diorama of Ancient Rome, Rocco built this one for a commission for a museum, and boy, does it belong there. The overview picture hardly does it justice, as it all blends together into a blur of flame orange, dark red, and grey, but zoom in and there are as many marvels as in the real deal. Fancy a tour? It’s not forbidden to look at this one, even for a commoner like me.

Check out the details of this incredible build

LEGO reveals two new Chinese New Year sets for 2020 that combine into one gigantic festival [News]

LEGO has revealed two new sets to celebrate the upcoming Chinese New Year: 80104 Lion Dance and 80105 Chinese New Year Temple Fair. Both sets feature an incredible amount of new prints, recoloring of pieces and a significant amount of minifigures which all combine into a large festival setting. So today we have your first look at the sets and minifigures along with a video for each.

Honoring LEGO’s commitment to offer regional exclusives sets worldwide, the two new LEGO Chinese Traditional Festival models will launch in China and the Asia Pacific region starting December 26, 2019 with global availability beginning January 10, 2020.

Click to see all the details about the new Chinese Traditional Festivals sets

I’m a rhinoceros hornbill. How-do-you-do!

It never fails, someone builds an animal or another and it always makes me smile. What I like is beginning to become predictable. I hope you can be as enthralled by Marco Gan’s rhinoceros hornbill as I am. The rhinoceros hornbill (Buceros rhinoceros) is the state bird of the Malaysia state of Sarawak as well as the country’s National Bird. This particular cutey is a charming female as her eye is white with red rims made from a small wheel and tire assembly and a radar dish (males would have red with black rims). My favorite part is the tongue made from a snowboard. The hanging spider acts as a reminder that in the jungle, there is always something alive needing to eat. It is clear that Marco cares deeply about the animals of Southeast Asia, as this isn’t the first time he’s delighted us with jungle creatures. Check out these tapirs of his we featured previously.

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