Tag Archives: Europe

Grab a bite or a drink at Cafe CoCo

A new modular from Andrew Tate is always a treat as this master of minifig-scale architecture has a knack for builds that sweep you away to a specific time or place. His latest model, Cafe CoCo, captures the timeless and unhurried aesthetic of a European old town street corner that could just as easily be in Paris, Vienna, or Prague, fifty years ago or today. I can practically taste the Aperol spritz. The dark-stained wooden facade on the ground floor provides warmth and old-world charm against the tan stone building. Andrew packs the model with fun details and techniques, like the lamps held aloft on black hot dogs, or the pot snaking plants made from actual rattlesnakes. For the stone sidewalks, Andrew uses masonry bricks laid flat, a great technique that conveys the texture of paving stones without visual noise to distract from the scene above.

Cafe CoCo

Andrew “Snaillad” Tate says he builds at a snail’s pace, but over time he’s built an “>impressive body of LEGO creations that are always worth a revisit.

On a trip to Southern Europe without the hassle of traveling

What do you do when you can’t go on your trip to Southern Europe? Right, you just build a mini version of it! Andrew Tate made this lovely LEGO town square with a combination of different European style buildings. The build features a restaurant, a clothing shop, and lots of apartments above the shop and the restaurant.

Mediterranean town square

There are a lot of nice details added to the buildings. One of my favorite elements is the fluted profile brick being used in brown as shutter and in tan as pleated blinds. The 1×1 tiles on the blue building do a great job representing tiles. The sand green building has windows adorned with loaf slopes. One of the things that really make this creation a lot of fun is the number of levels it has and the activity that is going on on each level. Your eyes can scan the picture multiple times and every single time you’ll notice something new. I can already imagine myself sitting on that lovely city bench underneath the blooming gazebo enjoying the busy city life in front of me.