![]() My LEGO models of skyscrapers however, are built very much like conventional masonry structures with walls created by stacking bricks. ![]() These exterior walls make up the façade of the building but don’t actually support any weight. Instead, they have a steel framework to which “ curtain walls” made of brick, stone or glass are attached. What separates modern skyscrapers from the tall buildings that preceded them is the fact that, unlike masonry-built tall buildings, skyscrapers don’t have load-bearing walls. In fact, the scale I pick is usually the smallest one that would allow me to accurately represent the floor count and the window count of the original building (a scale that usually ends up being around 1/200). I try to find the sweet spot with my skyscraper models-a scale that is somewhere between the small scale used in the LEGO Architecture series and the huge scale used for the models you would find in a LEGOLAND Miniland. On the other hand, using too small of a scale can force you to compromise on accuracy (probably more than you would find acceptable). But too large of a scale can also result in a massive, unwieldy model with a prohibitively high piece count and cost. The bigger the scale, the more accurately you can represent all the elements of the original building in your LEGO model. Of course there is a trade-off involved here. well, let me not get too carried away here!Īs far as I am concerned, picking the right scale is the most important decision you need to make when you are designing a LEGO model of a real building. Armed with a good understanding of scale and proportion that my training as an engineer had provided, I set to work designing my first-ever MOC: a model of the Empire State Building. The best part of course, was that we could use the same LEGO pieces that my daughter had been playing with-but we would need many more of them. And as awe-inspiring as this model was, it also looked like something that would not be too difficult for my daughter and I to build (and hopefully we could put our own unique spin on it!). Something about this model appealed to my lifelong fascination with skyscrapers. One model that really grabbed my attention was a model of the Empire State Building built by Sean Kenney. An innocent query from my daughter about building a “really tall” building out of LEGO prompted a Google search that led me to stumble upon the world of AFOLs and all the amazing MOCs out there that have been built out of LEGO. In my case, I was completely in the dark about LEGO (having never played with it as a child) until I discovered it as a 40-something dad to a then six-year-old who had just started playing with LEGO. ![]() Many AFOLs talk about a “dark age” that they emerged from to rediscover their childhood passion for LEGO. I have tried to create (what I hope will be) the definitive LEGO versions of some of the most iconic American skyscrapers and this website intends to not only showcase these models but also provide some insights into my design process, the challenges I have encountered, interesting building techniques I have used, etc.My name is Deep Shen and my journey to AFOLdom has been a little unusual. A number of other considerations also come into play when designing a LEGO model – picking the right scale, ensuring the structural integrity and portability of the model, optimizing the use of LEGO pieces based on their cost and availability, etc. A significant amount of research and planning is required in order to translate the dimensions of a real building to LEGO bricks (while preserving its overall shape and proportions). However, building LEGO models (or MOCs as AFOLs such as myself like to call them) that represent real skyscrapers with a high degree of accuracy involves much more than just stacking bricks. After all, what kid playing with LEGO hasn’t stacked these bricks as high as they could to try to create their own skyscrapers ? ![]() Using LEGO (the colorful plastic bricks that we all know and love) to build models of skyscrapers (which are among the pinnacles of human achievement – quite literally!) may seem like a no-brainer. Different versions of Empire State Building. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |