Tag Archives: Skyscraper

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.

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Thrill seeking among the skyscrapers

When it comes to LEGO roller coasters, you can find a wide range of thrills. Start off safe on the gentle slopes of a Friends Amusement Park, or go for more adrenalin on the Creator Expert version. But what if that isn’t enough for your minifigures? What if they want a real rush? Taking an apparent cue from real-world rides like the Las Vegas High Roller, French builder ilive moves the track off the ground and into the skyline.

Roller Coaster

The ride twists through a selection of ilive’s previously built micro-scale buildings, each of which features interesting shaping and design. The Cube uses plenty of eye-catching texture created from transparent plate, and Skyscraper-2 makes great use of transparent blue 1x2x5 brick.

City

The coaster itself, though, is minifigure scaled. The effect of the mixed scaling works well; it’s pretty easy to imagine an upscale park having a miniature version of their city incorporated into a signature ride. Don’t believe me? Take a look for yourself in ilive’s video!

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New York’s Hearst Tower skyscraper recreated in 20,000 LEGO bricks

Manhattan’s Hearst Tower is one of the city’s most distinctive skyscrapers and DeepShen has built an impressive LEGO version of this interesting block. The faceted corners of the tower’s 182m height give it a striking visual signature, enhanced by the interesting contrast between the modern skyscraper and the 1928 cast stone facade which surrounds its base. This, the original Hearst building, was intended to be the ground floors of a skyscraper, but that construction project was put on hold by the Great Depression. In 2006 its purpose was finally realised — a protected landmark, the facade was retained as a street-level front for the stunning new building which emerged from its heart.

LEGO New York Skyscraper

DeepShen says the model used roughly 20,000 LEGO pieces and is built to 1:156 scale. By my calculations that makes this creation around 110cm high — so it’s as impressive in scale as it is in shaping.

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Gorgeous LEGO models of 3 famous New York skyscrapers use 50,000 pieces, stand 6 feet tall

Builder DeepShen has been toiling away for more than a year to create three incredibly accurate classic art deco skyscrapers out of LEGO bricks. All three are New York landmarks, with the American International Building, the Chrysler Building, and the Empire State Building bringing the amazing legacy of tall buildings to brick form, the last of which tops out at a staggering 6 feet, 3 inches. Together, they use a whopping 50,000 bricks.

DeepShen says that the American International Building is 1/192 scale, and stands 5 feet tall. Like the Empire State Building, it’s made from mostly tan bricks with dark grey roofs, while the building’s famous “snow-clad mountain” top is made of white.

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A terrific tower of Amsterdam

Located in Amsterdam, the A’DAM Tower is more than just a simple office block. Sitting atop of the office block is the A’DAM LOOKOUT, an observation deck featuring a restaurant and an “over the edge swing” among other attractions. Originally opened in 1971 as the headquarters of Royal Dutch Shell, the tower’s observation deck and other new features opened in 2016.

According to the builder, Flickr user Erwin te Kortschot, this LEGO model was constructed as the result of a commission by Dutch company Kawneer Netherlands. As in real life, this LEGO model places the central mass of the structure at an angle when compared to both the base and the observation deck. As any LEGO builder knows, building at angles with rectangular bricks can be a challenge. This model serves as an example of what is possible though.

ADAM tower (Polyclose 2)

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A media empire under one LEGO roof

Manhattan bustles with the edifices of American enterprise, towering symbols of capitalism whose many styles span New York City’s distinct historical periods. Past, present, and future often lie within the same block, Art Deco and Modern architecture mingling to reflect the city’s status as a permanent symbol of capitalism. One building which exemplifies this mix of old and new is the Hearst Tower, painstakingly recreated here in LEGO form by Daniel Stoffler.

NY Hearst Tower (AVG)

Built for and named after the famous American publisher William Randolph Hearst, the building claims a spot as the headquarters for one of the world’s largest media corporations, Hearst Communications, with ownership of numerous newspapers and publications including Esquire, Harper’s Bazaar and Cosmopolitan. The builder took on a daunting challenge recreating Hearst Tower, but the effort paid off with this accurate and realistically detailed model – which includes the original six-story base as well as the 40-story glass tower finished in 2006, here accomplished perfectly with triangular road sign elements. This makes for an interesting mix of architecture and an extremely impressive LEGO model.

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Iconic buildings from the heart of Malaysia

When LEGO released their new Skyline Architecture series, it was inevitable that we started seeing LEGO builders take the diminutive buildings to heart and begin creating skylines closer to their own homeland that LEGO missed in their official sets. This build of three iconic buildings in Kuala Lumpur, the capital city of Malaysia expresses the love that Ng Wen Yeh has for his country. These are great, iconic buildings that highlight a spectacular, multicultural and multi-racial city.

Architectural: Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

The left-most building, Sultan Abdul Samad Building was built in the 19th century and today houses the Information, Communications and Culture ministry. If we step back in time, it was once the home to various key departments during the British administration.

In the middle we have the Petronas Towers, sometimes referred to as the Twin Towers of Malaysia, which was once the tallest buildings in the world from 1998 until 2004.

On the far right, we have the 7th tallest communications tower in the world, simply named the KL Tower which broadcasts free to air radio and TV channels.

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