#21064 Paris – City of Love is the latest addition to the longstanding LEGO Architecture series. In fact, the very same theme that brought me back to the LEGO hobby as an adult. The set will be $79.99 (79.99€ / £69.99 / 99.99 CAD / 129.99 AUD) and contains 958 pieces. Available January 1, 2026 at LEGO.com or your favorite retailer.

#21064 Paris – City of Love comes in a very tall box.

All that I knew before the set arrived in the mail was that it was rumoured to feature Paris and included 958 pieces for an $80 price tag. The obvious guess is that this is a remake of #21044 Paris, a 694-piece set in the Skyline series which costs just $50 when it was released in January 2019. (The recent re-release of #21039 Shanghai as #21068 Shanghai without any other changes suggests that there is continued interest in the Skylines series.)

#21044 Paris Skyline.

Notably, the area around Paris has been extremely well represented in the LEGO Architecture Series’ history, including #21014 Villa Savoye (2012, located in nearby Poissy, France), #21019 The Eiffel Tower (2014), #21024 Louvre (2015), #21036 Arc de Triomphe (2017), #21044 Paris (2019), and #21061 Notre-Dame de Paris (2024).

I thought an updated skyline was the most likely guess, although I was curious to see how much better it looks with about 250 additional parts! I was also eager to see if the Louvre is featured in the model again, as the recent burglarly has been a major news story of late. (Maybe they can offer a “Louvre Heist” gift with purchase?)

First Impressions

To be frank, my first impression was dissapointment. I have grown to expect faithful recreations of complete buildings from sets in the LEGO Architecture series, and this flattened perspective is not something I expected or wanted.

#21064 Paris – City of Love. The back of the box shows how it looks on display on a shelf or hanging from a wall.

If anything, this feels like a grown-up reinterpretation of the ‘Postcard’ sets that The LEGO Group released in 2022. I reviewed #40519 New York and #40654 Beijing Postcards, #40651 Australia, and Jeannie reviewed #40568 Paris and #40569 London. As it happens, the only one to receive a Recommended (4/5 star rating) was the one based on Paris.

#40568 Paris Postcard.

On closer inspection of the box art, I see that the flattened representations of iconic Parisian buildings are well executed. Moreover, the set features the most effective use of forced perspective I can think of in an official set. That’s because it uses both size and color to make buildings appear to recede into the backdrop, starting from 5Brick YellowTan in the foreground, 138Sand YellowDark Tan slightly further back, then 194Medium Stone GreyLight Bluish Gray and 199Dark Stone GreyDark Bluish Gray in the distance.

Build Process

The box is fairly large (25.9×9.2×38.1cm) and heavy (1090g) with a fairly unusual proportions that are taller than they are wide. It maintains the dark background frequently used for Architecture sets, and the AFOLs Welcome band across the bottom containing the set number and part count.

The set is built using 7 numbered bags.

Box Contents:

• 7 numbered bags
• Clear bag containing:
• 2x 16×16 Plate (Part 91405) in White.
• 2x 16L Flex Tube (Part 75c16) in Tan.
• One small prepack bag marked 6601377 containing Wheel Covers (4x Part 18978a, and Part 18978b).
• 156-page Instruction Booklet (19.5×17.5cm)

Bags 1-2: Background

The First Bag begins to build a large frame out of white plates and bricks. We quickly add some 140Earth BlueDark Blue tiles, which confirms that this will form the backdrop of the model. This bag also requires the two 16×16 Plates from the unmarked plastic bag to create a larger canvas. It’s not super exciting to attach all the 140Earth BlueDark Blue tiles, but doesn’t take very long either.

Starting to build the sky in Bag 1.

Building out the backdrop continues in Bag 2. For the most part, it looks like a random pattern of protrusions in a mix of dark blue and dark gray tiles. Near the bottom, we build a pair of SNOT assemblies where I expect that the buildings on either side will attach. The backdrop is pretty large: 34-studs wide and 20-studs tall.

The full size of the model is more clear now that we started building the bottom edge.

Bags 3-7: Buildings

In the Third bag, we build a single large assembly using SNOT techniques. It involves creating a number of nearly symmetrical distant buildings using 199Dark Stone GreyDark Bluish Gray parts. While it looks pretty symmetrical, I got caught up several times when I assumed symmetry and the parts are subtly different on either side. As we continue with the model, we build a second smaller assembly with latticework on the angled sections that will become the legs of the Eiffel Tower. A flex tube attaches to the base on either side, creating an illusion of the graceful curves of the real building.

We build the base of the model in Bag 3.

The fourth bag is quite small. It focuses on creating a tiny version of the Arc de Triomphe using 138Sand YellowDark Tan pieces. This is an artistic choice to make it appear to recede into the distance, since the actual building is made from light gray stone. I think this is effective in reinforcing the forced perspective, but feels like we are drifting from the more literal world of architecture to the more representational world of art.

Bag 5 adds two more buildings to the model. A flat interpretation of the iconic Louvre museum sits below and in front of the Arc de Triomphe. It’s a pretty simple rendering with a wing of the museum on either side of the iconic glass pyramid entrance which was added to the middle of the plaza by architect I.M. Pei in 1989. The pyramid is flat in this version, which looks weird up close but looks good from further away.

The Louvre featuring the prominent glass pyramid for an entrance.

On the other side of the model, we build a building on a hill. I believe is meant to be the cathedral at Montmatre, although the small size makes it less obvious what it is meant to be.

The hill in the background is probably Montmartre.

We finally get to build something that feels architectural in Bag six. This bag features a very intricately assembled front facade of the iconic Notre Dame Cathedral. Each of the two towers are built as identical assemblies, employing extensive use of SNOT parts to attach plates on either side, details to the front, and to connect on the back where studs are facing towards the viewer. It does seem a bit silly to include a bag of 8 wheel covers when we only need one for the large rose window, but it’s not so bad to have a few extra pieces. I am genuinely satisfied by the detailing in this small section of the model.

Notre Dame is constructed using three separate modules.

The seventh and final bag is all about the Eiffel Tower. This rendition emphasizes the triangular sections of the overall form, but in doing so we get less of the graceful curves which are so unique about the real building. The overall effect is that of a travel photo, capturing the overall form without getting all the details right.

The Eiffel Tower is tall enough to extend well above the frame, and covers the hook to hang it on the wall.

Build Time: 90 minutes (Bag 1: 7 minutes, Bag 2: 11 minutes, Bag 3: 14 minutes, Bag 4: 11 minutes, Bag 5: 15 minutes, Bag 6: 16 minutes, Bag 7: 16 minutes).

Value

At $80, this set feels like a good value since it contains 958 pieces, but a thorough analysis of the value is warranted since price-per-part isn’t the only way to assess value.

This set offers an excellent price-per-part of 8.6 cents, but the price-per-gram is pretty awful at 12.3 cents per gram. This objective measure of value tells us that the set contains a ton of tiny parts, and isn’t that great of a value after all.

Conclusion

This really belongs in the LEGO Art collection instead of the LEGO Architecture series, but it is still a nice model which will appeal to many builders. Stylistically, it leans towards more abstraction than realism, especially the abstract forms in the background and the blocky rendering of the Eiffel Tower. By contrast, the Louvre, Notre Dame, and Arc de Triomphe aim for realism despite the small size.

#21064 Paris – City of Love, Completed LEGO Model.

While I am disappointed in this set as a member of the LEGO Architecture series, I think it is a nice set in it’s own right. If this were correctly labeled as a LEGO Art set, it would earn a Good (3/5 Stars) rating when I balance the uninspired building techniques, attractive overall appearance, and moderate value. I do worry that many LEGO Architecture completionists will be a bit dissapointed because this is a very different building experience and completed LEGO art piece than they are used to.