[Opinion] Why you should generally avoid building Lego Skyscrapers

[The Lego Room]

In the video below, I discuss some of my thoughts on Lego skyscrapers, and why they are overrated and often ruin the look of a city. Please feel free to disagree but let's keep debate civil!

 

 

[Carbohydrates]

Well sure, I think there can definitely be a tendency to prioritize size and scale over detail, but that's an individual's choice to make. The fact of the matter is that a skyscraper is just going to be a large build, and that's going to require a certain commitment of parts and design. Slapping one together because you want something tall is going to yield poor results, but it's more an issue of underestimating the undertaking, IMO.

There are other things to consider, too. A single skyscraper in a city that's otherwise filled with short buildings is going to look awkward. If you're doing a downtown high rise section of a city, it really needs to be a whole neighborhood, or at least a block. Also, if your town is predominantly modulars or modular-style buildings, a skyscraper likely won't make a lot of thematic sense. Modulars are like caricatures of buildings. They're facade-oriented and quite shallow, intended to make up the face of a block but not its depth, and are just generally small overall. Skyscrapers tend to be much more proportionate to their real equivalents, going much deeper down a block to make the correct visual profile. As a result, they're far more likely to dominate a city build in the modular style rather than complement it.

[The Lego Room]

26 minutes ago, Carbohydrates said:

Well sure, I think there can definitely be a tendency to prioritize size and scale over detail, but that's an individual's choice to make. The fact of the matter is that a skyscraper is just going to be a large build, and that's going to require a certain commitment of parts and design. Slapping one together because you want something tall is going to yield poor results, but it's more an issue of underestimating the undertaking, IMO.

There are other things to consider, too. A single skyscraper in a city that's otherwise filled with short buildings is going to look awkward. If you're doing a downtown high rise section of a city, it really needs to be a whole neighborhood, or at least a block. Also, if your town is predominantly modulars or modular-style buildings, a skyscraper likely won't make a lot of thematic sense. Modulars are like caricatures of buildings. They're facade-oriented and quite shallow, intended to make up the face of a block but not its depth, and are just generally small overall. Skyscrapers tend to be much more proportionate to their real equivalents, going much deeper down a block to make the correct visual profile. As a result, they're far more likely to dominate a city build in the modular style rather than complement it.

While it is ultimately a matter of choice and construction process, it is a very frequent outcome that the detail is not given enough attention - not just for my skyscraper but for others I have seen as well. These are from really skilled LEGO builders I have seen, too. Buying bulk parts for skyscrapers is expensive enough, to buy the parts for extra detail could easily leave one £1000 out of pocket, if not more. And of course, if you buy in bulk, the end result will generally be unvaried and a bit bland. 

The single skyscraper point is interesting. I have seen layouts with multiple skyscrapers and they look very good. All Things Brick comes to mind. But in those layouts the skyscrapers are very well designed too, in terms of individual detail. I imagine his layout cost an absolute fortune!

[dimka_ya]

7 hours ago, The Lego Room said:

While it is ultimately a matter of choice and construction process, it is a very frequent outcome that the detail is not given enough attention - not just for my skyscraper but for others I have seen as well. These are from really skilled LEGO builders I have seen, too. Buying bulk parts for skyscrapers is expensive enough, to buy the parts for extra detail could easily leave one £1000 out of pocket, if not more. And of course, if you buy in bulk, the end result will generally be unvaried and a bit bland. 

The single skyscraper point is interesting. I have seen layouts with multiple skyscrapers and they look very good. All Things Brick comes to mind. But in those layouts the skyscrapers are very well designed too, in terms of individual detail. I imagine his layout cost an absolute fortune!

Thanks for mentioning All Things Brick. He has a wonderful city.

I am fond of building in a micro format, and I try to make skyscrapers not high - 5...10 floors. Otherwise, with a small area of the city, they shade the rest of the buildings.

[Stuartn]

https://www.instagram.com/wooootles/?hl=en

@wooootles (link above) Is a great builder of Lego skyscrapers. I think he has six built now and some other massive structures.

I think that placement of skyscrapers goes a long way, and having multiple buildings of increasing height near it, as in the linked layout, helps a lot.

I decided not to build skyscrapers, instead building modern structures 3-4 stories tall. I actually pulled one WIP apart because I wanted to ensure I had enough detail in my other taller building which I will re-build soon and I may try rebuilding a simpler form of the MOC I pulled apart.

I agree it takes a lot of effort to design skyscrapers. One of the difficult things is ensuring there are different details along the skyscraper, yet not looking overly colourful or confused.

Edited March 10, 2021 by Stuartn

[MAB]

17 hours ago, Carbohydrates said:

There are other things to consider, too. A single skyscraper in a city that's otherwise filled with short buildings is going to look awkward. If you're doing a downtown high rise section of a city, it really needs to be a whole neighborhood, or at least a block. Also, if your town is predominantly modulars or modular-style buildings, a skyscraper likely won't make a lot of thematic sense. Modulars are like caricatures of buildings. They're facade-oriented and quite shallow, intended to make up the face of a block but not its depth, and are just generally small overall. Skyscrapers tend to be much more proportionate to their real equivalents, going much deeper down a block to make the correct visual profile. As a result, they're far more likely to dominate a city build in the modular style rather than complement it.

I also think this is important. One skyscraper looks weird on its own. Combined with others, they fit in better.

Also scale - a skyscraper doesn't have to be incredibly tall in a LEGO city. Often five stories is enough to convey that it is a skyscraper, different to the other shorter buildings. Modulars are all very small volume wise compared to real structures, and the same can work for skyscrapers too. They may not physically be skyscrapers any more, but if you want them to be relatively tall and modernist builds, that is often enough. 

[The Lego Room]

10 hours ago, Stuartn said:

https://www.instagram.com/wooootles/?hl=en

@wooootles (link above) Is a great builder of Lego skyscrapers. I think he has six built now and some other massive structures.

I think that placement of skyscrapers goes a long way, and having multiple buildings of increasing height near it, as in the linked layout, helps a lot.

I decided not to build skyscrapers, instead building modern structures 3-4 stories tall. I actually pulled one WIP apart because I wanted to ensure I had enough detail in my other taller building which I will re-build soon and I may try rebuilding a simpler form of the MOC I pulled apart.

I agree it takes a lot of effort to design skyscrapers. One of the difficult things is ensuring there are different details along the skyscraper, yet not looking overly colourful or confused.

Agreed. I saw his skyscraper layout on YT and it was very impressive. Certainly it only works when there are multiple tall buildings. Unfortunately it can cost a thousand (pounds, dollars, euros) or more to build a single skyscraper properly, so it becomes financially very difficult! Especially if one has other projects. I’ve noticed that the ‘skyscraper district’ layouts tend to be a lot smaller than typical cities which is quite telling of the effort and resources needed to do tall buildings properly.

4 hours ago, MAB said:

I also think this is important. One skyscraper looks weird on its own. Combined with others, they fit in better.

Also scale - a skyscraper doesn't have to be incredibly tall in a LEGO city. Often five stories is enough to convey that it is a skyscraper, different to the other shorter buildings. Modulars are all very small volume wise compared to real structures, and the same can work for skyscrapers too. They may not physically be skyscrapers any more, but if you want them to be relatively tall and modernist builds, that is often enough. 

In real life skyscrapers/tall buildings often ruin the appearance of cities simply because they are a lot more different architecturally than their surroundings. Imagine seeing the Shard in Prague for example!

I am planning on doing something similar to what you suggest i.e. a building which is slightly taller compared to modulars, but only by two storeys. The idea is that it will represent an office block. And I will make sure it fits my ideal style of having a classic kind of look. The bottom will look a bit like that of this building (hopefully!)

Edited March 10, 2021 by The Lego Room

[koalayummies]

If you don't expand vertically then it'll turn out like Los Angeles. Don't become like Los Angeles.

[MAB]

45 minutes ago, The Lego Room said:

In real life skyscrapers/tall buildings often ruin the appearance of cities simply because they are a lot more different architecturally than their surroundings. Imagine seeing the Shard in Prague for example!

Is that because they are tall though, or because of the modern designs? Stick a short version of the Shard in Prague and it will also not look great. Whereas stick 3 or 4 or more skyscrapers together and they fit in to the area OK. Singapore manages it quite well.

 

[BrickObsessed]

I think this is preference. I resolved not to build more than 4 stories. I can't explain it. It feels skyscrapers are cold. Maybe sometime I will change my mind, but for now, I have no inkling to build higher than that.

[Vilhelm22]

Interesting thread and discussion!

In my opinion, one quick build skyscraper will not look brilliant in a basic city, but it's very possible to build several giants and they look good next to each other.  Daryl Bevins AKA Bevins Bricks on YouTube is an example of this, with many big builds that all look good together due to his generally large scale builds.  His most recent city update is here:

 

[bricksboy]

Agree, except if you can build like 

wooootles  :  https://www.youtube.com/user/wooootles

or 

bevins bricks: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCV0ncTOFl5Sg53sLNGxvi6w

[The Lego Room]

On 3/14/2021 at 6:42 PM, Vilhelm22 said:

Interesting thread and discussion!

In my opinion, one quick build skyscraper will not look brilliant in a basic city, but it's very possible to build several giants and they look good next to each other.  Daryl Bevins AKA Bevins Bricks on YouTube is an example of this, with many big builds that all look good together due to his generally large scale builds.  His most recent city update is here:

 

Yes, his luxury apartment building in particular is brilliant. Not sure about the Octan tower though... but in any case he has a lot of tall buildings so none of them unduly stand out or look out of place.

[The Jersey Brick Guy]

On 3/9/2021 at 2:00 PM, Carbohydrates said:

Well sure, I think there can definitely be a tendency to prioritize size and scale over detail, but that's an individual's choice to make. The fact of the matter is that a skyscraper is just going to be a large build, and that's going to require a certain commitment of parts and design. Slapping one together because you want something tall is going to yield poor results, but it's more an issue of underestimating the undertaking, IMO.

There are other things to consider, too. A single skyscraper in a city that's otherwise filled with short buildings is going to look awkward. If you're doing a downtown high rise section of a city, it really needs to be a whole neighborhood, or at least a block. Also, if your town is predominantly modulars or modular-style buildings, a skyscraper likely won't make a lot of thematic sense. Modulars are like caricatures of buildings. They're facade-oriented and quite shallow, intended to make up the face of a block but not its depth, and are just generally small overall. Skyscrapers tend to be much more proportionate to their real equivalents, going much deeper down a block to make the correct visual profile. As a result, they're far more likely to dominate a city build in the modular style rather than complement it.

Great points!

I have my skyscrapers (5 as of right now) in the one corner all grouped together. I have the baseplates in place for another 6-7 skyscrapers. It's my "downtown" section.