Tag Archives: Olle Moquist

This quirky street corner is the perfect spot to hang around after school or work

While many LEGO sets that include city street scenes are often simplified, real city blocks are packed with interesting details if you take the time to look closely, like this charming and dense city block by Olle Moquist. From cans, bottles, small weeds growing through the sidewalk, a brown cat, and a construction cone. And that is just on one side of the block. The main shop is either a LEGO store featuring the classic wooden duck as a sign, or they are serving duck. Either way, I’d love to spend an afternoon hanging out, people watching in this little corner of the world.

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Top marks for this bottom-feeder

From the depths of the imagination of LEGO builder Olle Moquist comes an aquatic ambulatory ecosystem that includes LEGO elements as diverse and obscure as the sea life itself.
Olle shares that some of their favourite creative corals “ended up being scrapped as they didn’t quite fit the palette”. I find this very relatable. I know from personal experience that sometimes during the creative process it can be hard to let go of a component (character, scene, phrase, LEGO part usage…?) that is precious to you as the creator but is no longer serving the creation itself.
Olle adds being “quite happy with the bioluminescent coral and the one with the mohawk hair”, both of which you can see in this view, but those who want to take a deeper dive will find dinosaur heads, “giant sausages“, and those janky little fender parts introduced in the short-lived Tiny Turbos theme all put to excellent use.
If this lovely build and all its clever parts usage is the result of creative compromise, I look forward to seeing what Olle has in store for us next!

Brick art: Casting a MOC in concrete to stand the test of time

Every LEGO bricks begins its life being cast in plastic from a mold. For builder Olle Moquist’s last creation, bricks become molds for a new building material: concrete. Inspired by the concrete sculptures of David Umemoto, Olle started with a traditional LEGO build, used it to create a silicone mold, then poured concrete to create this incredible creation. A single red minifigure and dark blue microfigure offer a pop of color and clarify scale.

Up close, the subtle imperfecti0ns in the pour add an air of weathered beauty. Even though the cast is just days old, it looks timeless – a relic from an alternate brutalist timeline where grey-clad children play with concrete blocks.

See how Olle made this incredible concrete creation

Celebrate the release of A Minecraft Movie by embracing Creative Mode with imaginative LEGO creations [Feature]

Today sees the release of A Minecraft Movie, the unlikely yet inevitable next step for the world’s best-selling video game. Will it make waves like The LEGO Movie did back in 2014? Critically, reviews suggest no, but we’ll see after this weekend what generations raised with these digital building blocks think. Outside of the cinema, perhaps the strangest Minecraft partnership has been with LEGO. In most regards, Minecraft succeeds at blending play and building in a digital space better than any LEGO game has to date, and early in the product’s life, LEGO was in talks to partner with Mojang for a “Brickcraft” take on the experience.

Even though a partnership or buyout on digital worlds never came to fruition, LEGO has been enjoying over a decade of success with toy kits based on the Minecraft IP and aesthetic, like the recent tribute LEGO Minecraft 21265 Workbench. The theme is a best-seller with younger builders but there are many adult fans who enjoy expanding on the theme with original creations or incorporating the unique elements into their sets. Let’s take a look at some of our favorite Minecraft builds!

Builder Syrdarian has found magic in the isometric angles of Minecraft’s voxel world. Titled “No Mistakes, Just Happy Accidents,” this scene looks as tranquil as a Bob Ross painting until you look closely at the glowing light source. Oops! Someone got too close to the lava. I love the verticality of this build and the cutaway terrain that makes it feel like a part of a much bigger world.

Grab a pick and dig deeper for more Minecraft inspired builds

Classic Legoland Castle is back in yellow

Even if most LEGO builders are too young to have played with Legoland Castle when it was released in 1978, the vintage set with its iconic yellow brick walls holds legendary status among fans. Many have paid tribute to the set with homages and re-imaginings over the years and now Olle Moquist is the latest builder to catch the yellow castle nostalgia bug. Olle strikes an appealing balance between tradition and innovation while using no black, white, or grey elements in the building itself. The parapets atop large arches are straight from the original, while the central keep is reinterpreted with modern techniques and a more historically accurate design. The cross-shaped windows framed by minifig legs, nanofigure statuary, and purple banner fringed by capes are especially nice touches. For extra vintage flair, Olle digitally composites the castle into a backdrop reminiscent of LEGO adverts of the era.

From City of Lanterns to Shibuya Scramble

Inspired by his time in Shibuya, the latest modular from LEGO Masters Sweden finalist Olle Moquist captures the shuffle of old and new that one feels walking the busy backstreets of modern Tokyo. Olle picked an unusual seed part for the Lotus Hotel, beige DUPLO cushions, which give the building a distinctive stud-free texture. I’m also really struck by how perfectly the vintage Homemaker theme‘s maxifigure works as a Buddha with his compassionate long earlobes. While this city center is grounded in a more realistic setting, the modular wouldn’t look out of place next to Ninjago City, and after a busy day of shopping or a stay at the Lotus Hotel, visitors to this LEGO neighborhood can presumably take the tram to Monkie Kid’s City of Lanterns.