Category: Interviews

Featured Models / Interviews / LEGO Architecture Series / Skylines

April 5, 2017

LEGO Skylines Interview and Guide, Blocks Magazine #30

Learn more about the LEGO Skyline series in Issue #30 of Blocks Magazine. I wrote three articles which teach you how to build your own LEGO Skyline.

Exhibits / Featured / Interviews

September 2, 2016

‘Brick by Brick’ by Adam Reed Tucker

This exhibit at the Museum of Science and Industry in Chicago, IL features models of the Golden Gate Bridge, the Great Pyramids of Giza, the Disney Castle, and more.

Urbana LEGO Model. (Photo by Carlo Sese.)

Featured Models / Interviews

December 17, 2015

Urbana, by Architects Orange

I am really excited to share this great story about how Serafin Maranan of Architects Orange collaborated with LEGO Artist Christina Griffin Hull to build a beautiful LEGO model of his firm’s latest project....

Featured Models / Interviews

October 27, 2015

National Congress of Brazil / Unity Temple

My upcoming book The LEGO Architect includes 50 different LEGO models by 38 different LEGO artists. I’m excited to talk with many of the artists featured in the book and share their stories here....

Featured Models / Interviews

September 7, 2015

Oklahoma Landmarks

I am excited to share the collective works of LEGO artist Ricardo Montoya, who is re-creating the landmarks of Oklahoma in a minimalist style. His interest in LEGO was rekindled by the LEGO Architecture...

Maggie's Centre (2013) in Newcastle, UK, by Cullinan Studio. LEGO Model by Steve Mayes.

Featured Models / Interviews

August 31, 2015

Maggie’s Centre Newcastle

We can thank LEGO Artist Steve Mayes for creating this intricate LEGO model of Maggie’s Centre Newcastle. His LEGO model warrants a deeper look, but first, what is Maggie’s Centre? Maggie’s Centre is a...

Featured / Featured Models / Interviews / Uncategorized

July 30, 2015

Bauhaus Dessau

I am excited to share another great LEGO Architecture creation: The Bauhaus Dessau. The building was designed by the influential early Modernist architect Walter Gropius. LEGO Artist Gary Garvin didn’t just build one LEGO...

Featured Models / Interviews

July 19, 2015

LAX Theme Building

I am excited to share one of the most unique new LEGO Architecture models proposed on the LEGO Ideas site, the iconic ‘Theme Building’ at LAX Airport (1961) in Los Angeles, California by Pereira...

Featured / Featured Models / Interviews / Uncategorized

April 28, 2015

Frank Lloyd Wright’s Wingspread

One of my great joys in seeing large-scale LEGO re-creations is when the LEGO artist gives us a chance to see how it is built. Unfortunately, this is not very common, and usually limited...

1 month ago by tomalphin LEGO Architecture set #21021 Marina Bay Sands is packed with advanced and unusual building techniques that are not typically found in an official LEGO set. The set was designed by Rok Žgalin Kobe, who I interviewed for issue #30 of Blocks Magazine. — More info about that interview at brickarchitect.com — #LEGO #LEGOArchitecture #LEGOArchitect #HighTech #Architecture #Architect #Design #Modern #Style #Set #MarinaBay #MarinaBaySands #Hotel #blocks @BlocksMagazine
1 month ago by tomalphin The hardest model to get in the LEGO architecture series is #21021 Marina Bay Sands. The model was only available for a short time in late 2013, and only in #Asia . It is based on the iconic #Singapore hotel designed by architect Moshe Safdie. (He also designed Habitat 67 in Montreal, featured in my book ‘The LEGO Architect’.) A couple years ago, I started building the model without using the instructions, but found it hard to reverse engineer due to the complex shape and unknown interior structure. I’m getting ready to give up, and follow the instructions. — #LEGO #LEGOArchitecture …
2 months ago by tomalphin Dome Room, The Rotunda, University of Virginia (1826) in Charlottesville, Virginia, by architect Thomas Jefferson. The building was extensively renovated from 2014 to 2016, including a lot of work to restore the building’s original design. This includes beautiful new carved wood #capitals for each of the forty columns, replacing plaster capitals which were installed in the 1970’s. The final result is a stunning union of Jefferson’s vision and Palladio’s rules of #Classical #architecture . — #Neoclassical #Columns #Dome #Charlottesville , #VA #Virginia #UVA #Jefferson #ThomasJefferson #University #Rotunda — Photos June 21, 2017 © Tom Alphin.
2 months ago by tomalphin The Rotunda, University of Virginia (1826) in Charlottesville, Virginia, by architect Thomas Jefferson. The building’s design owes a debt to the Pantheon in Rome, as well as Andrea Palladio’s I quattro libri dell'architettura (The Four Books of Architecture), which documented rules of architecture based on Greek and Roman classical architecture. Palladio is generally cited as the founding force behind Neoclassical architecture. — #UVA #Virginia #rotunda #therotunda #jefferson #thomasjefferson #architect #architecture #neoclassical #palladian #charlottesvilleva #universityofvirginia — Photos June 21, 2017 © Tom Alphin.
3 months ago by tomalphin ‘Spiral Staircase’ — Dubuque County Courthouse, 1891, in #Dubuque , #Iowa , by architect Fridolin Heer. This courthouse has an attractive, eclectic Beaux-arts style exterior. Hidden around back you will find this emergency exit. — #Architect #Architecture #Design #SecondEmpire #Baroque #Style #ArchitecturalStyle #Courthouse #Ornate #Decorative | Photo December 30, 2016 © Tom Alphin