Tag Archives: skyline

Tatooine is shown through the ages in this Star Wars skyline build

This fantastic digital display by BenBuildsLego depicts some classic locations from the Star Wars movies and is built in the style of the skyline architecture sets. Starting from the left, podracers are zipping past the stands, which have seats represented by tiled slope pieces (AKA Cheese Graters). This is followed by the Lars’ family homestead, with a Sandcrawler looming in the background and even an adorable version of Luke’s speeder. Jabba’s domed palace stands on a rocky cliff face, with a barrel piece portraying the building’s round base. Finally, Jabba’s sail barge hovers over the tentacles of the Sarlacc pit, ready to drop prisoners into the horror below.

LEGO Tatooine Skyline (Update)

LEGO Architecture 21057 Singapore Skyline [Review]

The official LEGO Architecture series since its launch in 2008 with a total of at least 54 sets continues to delight us after over a decade. The latest showcase is the continuation of the skyline series and a revisit to representing the Republic of Singapore with an expanded view of the city since the release of the Marina Bay Sands landmark building showcase. The set was built by Senior Designer Rok Zgalin Kobe and features prominent locations in Singapore from the iconic Marina Bay Sands, OCBC Centre, One Raffles Place, Lau Pa Sat, Gardens by the Bay, Boat Quay and The Fullerton Hotel. With a landmass area of only 710 Km2 (270 sq. miles) and one of the most densely populated countries in the world, Singapore hosts and a wide variety of unique architectures that reflect a spectrum of modern and century-old buildings. The LEGO Architecture 21057 Singapore skyline set comes with 827 pieces and will be available on January 1st 2022 for US $59.99 | CAN $79.99 | UK £54.99.

The LEGO Group provided The Brothers Brick with an early copy of this set for review. Providing TBB with products for review guarantees neither coverage nor positive reviews. Continue reading →

LEGO reveals 21057 Singapore as latest Architecture Skyline set [News]

Today LEGO has revealed that the latest set in the long-running Skyline series of Architecture sets will be 21057 Singapore. The 827-piece microscale model will feature some of the city-state’s most prominent landmarks, including the iconic Marina Bay Sands hotel, which also got its own standalone Architecture set back in 2013. Other locations in the skyline include the Lau Pa Sat market, One Raffles Place and OCBC skyscrapers, the posh Fullerton Hotel, the historic Boat Quay, and the distinctive and beautiful Gardens by the Bay nature park full of towering artificial trees covered in lush vegetation. The set will retail for US $59.99 | CAN $79.99 | UK £54.99 and will be available starting Jan. 1.

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Gotham’s dark night never looked so good

One of the best things about building with LEGO is sharing your creations with the worldwide community of fans. But in order to do so, you need to take pictures of your builds, and this is where the tricky part comes in. Not all creations photograph well—especially when you build something with black bricks. Getting a good shot is quite tricky, and you tend to lose the details of the build. However, thankfully that didn’t stop Brent Waller from building Gotham at Night with mostly black bricks, and losing some details of the build works to Brent’s advantage here, as it is meant to be a shot of a city skyline at night. I really like how Brent used a mix of yellow and orange to represent the lights burning in the skyscrapers. The different sizes for stars also are a really nice touch, drawing my eyes away from the Batwing covering the moon. This creation really reminds me of a 3D Pop-Up book I used to have as a kid.

Gotham By Night

That’s one brightly-lit skyline

Spaceships are great, castles are fun, mechs are neato. But sometimes I like to stop and appreciate the LEGO builds that lean more heavily into traditional “artistic” themes. legoapprentice has created a fun neon-lit skyline that just seems cheerful and fun. I like the subtle techniques in play like the varied widths of the windows, and how quarter arch tiles are used in several orientations to create a fluid feel for the skyscrapers. So take a moment and rest here with me, and enjoy the sights.

Skyline at Night

Once you’ve caught your breath, take a stroll down our Art tag for even more creative goodness.

Prague, only smaller...

The historical capital of Bohemia is scaled down in Jet Kwan’s LEGO micro-build of the Prague skyline. Composed of a total of six individual buildings, this brick-built skyline gives us a little taste of one of the largest cities in Europe. Accurate to its real-life counterpart, Kwan’s choice in buildings showcases Prague as the cultural center that it truly is and we will take a closer look at a couple of these structures.

A dominant feature of the old town of Prague is the Church of Our Lady Before Týn, whose spires are elegantly rendered here using black telescope elements in combination with palm tree tops and 1 x 1 cones to achieve the multi-point effect. The structures neighboring the church are minimally depicted by orange 1 x 1 slopes.

Kwan expertly reproduces Frank Gehry’s post-modern Dancing House using very small elements, mostly 1 x 1 slopes, tiles, and bricks.

The historic Charles Bridge which established Prague as an important trade route between Eastern and Western Europe is comprised of mostly 1 x 4 arches with various 1 x 1 decorative elements such as the grey minifigure statuettes.

Overall, these micro-models serve as a testament to LEGO’s creative potential even in its smallest pieces. For more close-up views of individual buildings please check out Jet Kwan’s Instagram page.

Hong Kong – Beneath the shell, it’s a pearl of a city.

Nearly ten years ago, working in China allowed me the opportunity to visit Hong Kong for the very first time. The primary focus of my trip was to visit LEGO fan event Bricks Adventure 2011 at City University, and I was floored by both the hospitality and building skills of the city’s LEGO enthusiasts. I was equally impressed by the beauty of the city itself, so much so that I made two more trips to Hong Kong in the coming months. Therefore, when I saw this artful LEGO depiction of the city built by Hong Kong native Eric Mok, it triggered a wave of happy memories. Eric captures a view of Hong Kong Island from Kowloon, set inside a gold-trimmed sea scallop — it’s a lovely nod to Hong Kong’s nickname as the “Pearl of the Orient.”

The Orient Pearl

See this microscale version of Hong Kong in closer detail.

LEGO Architecture 21051 Tokyo skyline takes us to Tokyo Tower, Shibuya, Mt. Fuji, and more [Review]

It’s not often that a LEGO set transports me back home. But regular readers of The Brothers Brick know that I was born in Tokyo and lived in Japan until I was a teenager, so I was incredibly excited when LEGO announced 21050 Tokyo. I’ve enjoyed each of the previous LEGO Architecture skyline sets I’ve built, but how does this one stack up for someone who calls Tokyo their hometown?

Tokyo was revealed as part of the LEGO Architecture skyline series for 2020, alongside 21052 Dubai. Tokyo is built from 547 pieces and will retail for $59.99 USD | $79.99 CAD | £59.99 GBP. Both sets will be available starting January 1st.

Read our hands-on review of LEGO Architecture 21051 Tokyo skyline

A skyline that fits seemlessly with your collection

There are lots of people making their own versions of the LEGO Architecture city skylines. This is especially the case with a new contest on LEGO Rebrick. One hopeful builder, Felix (saabfan2013), could certainly be a top contender with his recreation of San Francisco.

San Francisco Skyline

In addition to the iconic Golden Gate Bridge, Felix included several other important landmarks. They are the Palace of Fine Arts, Salesforce Tower, Coit Tower, and Transamerica Pyramid. He also built an adorable row of houses with a tiny trolley car.

New York City: The concrete jungle where dreams are made, or broken...

A true labour of love is one that takes years to bear results. After half a decade of constantly building and updating using LEGO pieces accumulated from garage sales, Larry Wilkinson has brought to life an iconic and picturesque skyline of New York City. A few key buildings stand out, including the Freedom Tower, the Empire State Building, and The Chrysler Building — all instantly recognisable.

As a visitor who’s been to New York for less than a handful of times, this brings back memories of the faraway place that will always hold amazing and one of a kind experiences around a diverse culture of music, film, theatre, art – a melting pot city that makes it one of the greatest cities in the world, one that never sleeps.

You can see lots more photos of this LEGO NYC in Larry’s photostream on Flickr.