How to Design a Modular or a Non-Modular Building?

[Pate-keetongu]

On 5/1/2018 at 2:47 PM, Digger of Bricks said:

Yes, most looking forward to them too! 

Hehe, nice to hear! I just finished editing the photos for this one, I was rather busy with school (actual architecture). I'm visiting my parents next week but I might, just might me able to write the blog article before that... Anyway, Iäm going to do it before 16th of May as then I'm going to do some traveling around the Europe which means I will definitely get some inspiration for new buildings.

[Hoexbroe]

Hi!

First off; sorry for the late answer. I havent really been much active in the Lego Online Community lately.

Second; Thanks to LegoModularFan for the mention. Such an honour :-)

Third; My contributuon to this thread:
Well, I´m not really a fan of the standard modular houses that TLC is pumping out. SURE they are incredibly nice and extremely well done, but personally I have grown SO tired of seeing them in the Lego Expo´s that we do here in Spain. In CITY-realated displays the amount of MOCs are going down, while the number of repeated and/or (slightly) modified TLC modulars are going up.
Okay,sorry for that rant, but I had to get it out... ;-)

Building in a modular manner is simply a MUST if you intent to travel with your creations.This is easiest done trying to adhere to the Lego 32x32 baseplate format.Normally I let the standard meassurements dictate my creativity, and simply try to work within the system, instead of complicating things by straying off the grid. (so to speak...) This works very well for any modular-based CITY scale display, like my own "MegaMOCs" series.
But what happens when you want to recreate an important historical building? -These things rarely come in square cuadratic modules! As the only thing I have been building on for the last 2 years is my Magdalena Palace diorama, I will of course use that as a reference to what I say here;
PLAN AHEAD! -Use paper and pen or a computer design program to lay out the modules; If the thing has to be transported it is essential that it can be separated into handy sub-modules. If you are building in minifig scale, you have SOME space to move around. I aim for 1:50, but can accept 1:45 to 1:60; Just find the scale that makes the 32x32 studs resolution fit the best!
Personally I also allow for "best fit" decisions and changes to the original prototype design. If cutting or adding a couple of studs in lenght makes the thing FIT into the grid, I try to go with that. After all I am only interessted in that the whole general aspect of the creations allows the viewer to recognize the building. I´m not a "nietenzähler"! (A derrogative german term of a person (train-enthusiast usually) who cant accept even a single rivet out of place...)
Once you have decided on the lines of division into modules, STAY with them, But DONT allow them to force you to change the positions or looks of important details; In those cases you must shift the division-lines to one or the other side, and make it so that the modules can be PUSHED into each other. Like, well... Lego blocks. ;-)

Lately I have grown quite fond of Hispabrick Magazines MILS dioramas. Check it out here: http://www.abellon.net/MILS/ -which allows for a more textured surface. It is especially suited for layouts that include both land AND water.

I hope that this text can help somebody...

 

Edited May 20, 2018 by Hoexbroe

[LegoModularFan]

Thanks so much @Hoexbroe! 

On 5/20/2018 at 7:06 PM, Hoexbroe said:

Second; Thanks to LegoModularFan for the mention. Such an honour :-)

You're very welcome! It's me who is honored to get a response from such a great MOCer. 

On 5/20/2018 at 7:06 PM, Hoexbroe said:

Well, I´m not really a fan of the standard modular houses that TLC is pumping out. SURE they are incredibly nice and extremely well done, but personally I have grown SO tired of seeing them in the Lego Expo´s that we do here in Spain. In CITY-realated displays the amount of MOCs are going down, while the number of repeated and/or (slightly) modified TLC modulars are going up.
Okay,sorry for that rant, but I had to get it out... ;-)

I promise you that you aren't the only to feel that way. I start to be tired of the official modulars too, and I noticed that a lot of modular MOCs with instructions are in displays.

On 5/20/2018 at 7:06 PM, Hoexbroe said:

I hope that this text can help somebody...

That's for sure. It already helped someone...  

BTW, as a big Art Nouveau fan, I'd love to see your Casa Batlló updated! @paupadros may be interested as well... 

[Digger of Bricks]

1 hour ago, LegoModularFan said:

BTW, as a big Art Nouveau fan, I'd love to see your Casa Batlló updated!

That's one wild looking roof!  

[Fabulandlover]

For building mocs, which selection of (basic) bricks do yiou recommend to buy to build up a starting parts collection?

[ReplicaOfLife]

25 minutes ago, Fabulandlover said:

For building mocs, which selection of (basic) bricks do yiou recommend to buy to build up a starting parts collection?

1 x X plates, jumpers and brackets/bricks with studs on the side/headlight bricks in neutral colors (white, light/dark grey, tan/dark tan etc.). You'll find you always need those for striping, structural support of the floor, detailing etc.

As for bricks themselves, I honestly don't see much use in keeping a whole arsenal of bricks in many colors at hand. When free-building, I'd go ahead and order bricks in the color(s) I want to build in next. Depending on your financial resources and space, keeping basic bricks in the aforementioned neutral colors might be a good idea, though.

[Wodanis]

Hi LegoModularFan, 

I haven't been on the forums in a long time but happy to see my name mentioned! Thank you. As for how I approached my building design I started with just a concept of what I wanted. In my case, a gas station and police headquarters. I did draw out the base floor to think about where I wanted to place certain areas ie Armoury, front desk etc. I worked in Lego Digital Designer fluidly and thought about different building techniques as I went. As I had mapped things out I knew more or less how it was suppose to be. The facade of the building is usually the most important aspect so I played around with different designs until I had the right look. In the case of my police station there originally was suppose to be a garage attached to the main building. However after trying to get that to work I found it wasn't going to. I ditched it and then the design took off again. The one thing with LDD was that the sense of scale doesn't hit you until you begin building. It turns out that the Police HQ was just as large as the LEGO city hall but it looks fantastic beside it! I stuck with pretty basic techniques and will likely refurbish the design when I wish to as there has been a lot of progress with new parts and building techniques. I find the little details are what makes it interesting too. Who knew designing a water cooler could be so much fun! 

For those who wish to start building a modular building I would advise to work from the bottom, the base is important and how the plates are structured will determine the overall outlook. Think about colour as well. LDD allows one to be picky but keep in mind that not all bricks are available in certain colours. I usually double check parts and colours with Brickset to determine whether something is available. Can be time consuming but its worth it in the end. Cost will also play into what your designing so reusing particular parts or for example using a 1x3 tile instead of a 1x2, 1x1 tile makes a difference in price. The actual LEGO designers think in the same fashion. Other than that, dream big and have fun! One of these days I will build a Roman Colosseum. 

 

Wodanis

[LegoModularFan]

Thanks so much @Wodanis! Sorry for my late response... 

On 5/23/2018 at 5:33 PM, Wodanis said:

One of these days I will build a Roman Colosseum. 

Sounds intriguing... 

Do you plan to build your Apartment Building with real bricks? Would be nice to see! 

Edited May 28, 2018 by LegoModularFan

[peedeejay]

On 25.1.2018 at 1:54 PM, peedeejay said:

I pretty much always start with the second floor facade with my builds, especially when building a 16-wide. And I also always start with the windows and window decorations because for me that is a key element in the design of a modular. This of course depends on the layout, but when you have an almost flat front it is. The only exceptions where I started with the ground floor are my Casino and the Tailor, since I already knew that those builds will be a casino and a tailor before I started with the first brick. For other buildings I usually decide later what I put inside and after I did that I start with the ground floor facade.

When I have build the facade, my builds usually look like fake houses from western movies, since there is absolutely nothing behind the facade, no floor plan or stairs or whatsoever. I then usually build the backside facade before I move over to the floor plan. Interior is always done last and it's the part which I actually like the least of the whole building process.

While building my Sushi Bar I remembered this thread and remembered to take some WIP screenshots of the process to explain the above a bit more visually, so here they are. You can also see some ideas I scraped during the process, especially using a hinge'd wall on the lover floor but that made me end up with a 5 brick wide wall where I wasn't able to create a symmetrical window framing.

[LegoModularFan]

Thanks so much, @peedeejay. Really appreciate what you've done, helps a lot!

[ReplicaOfLife]

That's some nice insight, thanks, @peedeejay

Interesting to see that you start with the first floor. I did that on my Sideways Building, because I had prototyped that whole sideways building technique with real bricks. Creating the ground floor afterwards proved harder than I'd thought.

[mccoyed]

I actually don't do modular building. I did get one of the Theater (city) modular sets, but all my stuff are MOCs based on the work of GoH, LoR and other RBG (role-building game) moccers out there. Soccerkid and JSnyder are constant inspirations, but there are a ton of great builders whose techniques are worth emulating in the RBG scene. I also draw inspiration from concept art more than real buildings. My process is usually to start with the purpose of the build (so my most recent was a Norse-inspired house) and try to find some inspiration via google-images, flickr albums, and whatever else is out there. I like to work fast so often I cut corners trying to get a look without having to prebuild (with LDD) or meticulously plan elements. This is one of the reasons my landscaping is basic and my rockwork is terrible: lack of patience!

I can offer more specific commentary on any specific builds you personally like @LegoModularFan

Edited June 2, 2018 by mccoyed

[paupadros]

Huh, interesting @peedeejay.

I've both begun a model from the ground floor and from the roof, but never from the mid levels. For me, the overall effect is most important, so I center most of my efforts making the roofs sparkle. Once I've done that (or have it certain in my mind it can be done), then I do the rest.

[LegoModularFan]

Many thanks, @mccoyed! 

On 6/3/2018 at 12:27 AM, mccoyed said:

I actually don't do modular building.

Quite some people mentioned here don't do modular buildings, but they do other types of buildings (including castle, licensed, sci-fi, etc.) and that's what I call a "non-modular" to generalize that, just FYI... 

On 6/3/2018 at 12:27 AM, mccoyed said:

I also draw inspiration from concept art more than real buildings.

Sounds interesting. Thanks for the tip! 

On 6/3/2018 at 12:27 AM, mccoyed said:

I can offer more specific commentary on any specific builds you personally like @LegoModularFan

That's really kind of you.  I'd be definitely interested in knowing more about the process of your latest builds, especially your The Long Way Home. 

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BTW, would like to share with you guys that @Wineyard has a YouTube channel where he uploads some LDD speed builds, and I guess even MOCers out here would be interested about it! Be sure to subscribe to his channel if you like and enjoy his stuff as much as I do! 

 

Edited June 4, 2018 by LegoModularFan

[mccoyed]

22 hours ago, LegoModularFan said:

Many thanks, @mccoyed! 

Quite some people mentioned here don't do modular buildings, but they do other types of buildings (including castle, licensed, sci-fi, etc.) and that's what I call a "non-modular" to generalize that, just FYI... 

Sounds interesting. Thanks for the tip! 

That's really kind of you.  I'd be definitely interested in knowing more about the process of your latest builds, especially your The Long Way Home. 

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

BTW, would like to share with you guys that @Wineyard has a YouTube channel where he uploads some LDD speed builds, and I guess even MOCers out here would be interested about it! Be sure to subscribe to his channel if you like and enjoy his stuff as much as I do! 

 

Thanks for the clarifications on modular vs. non-modular. Makes a lot of sense!

So my process for The Long Way Home was something like this:

1. Age of Mitgardia challenge on Guilds of Historica. I had left off with the "House Phase 1" and hadn't yet completed the three phases and so decided this was a good way to get back into GoH. So, this is an extension of sorts of a previous build. That one had a small hut and limited landscaping as well as no interior. It featured the same fig, Reifnir Wave-Breaker, who was leaving on a journey.

2. I looked for concept art and reference material for a more elaborate house. Nothing too big or mansion-like, but a clear step up from a basic hut with no interior. The concept art I used is in the build post. I started with the base, which was originally your basic square shape, but wanted to do something different and so tried a rounded base, which wound up looking nice with the build.

3. I experimented with different elements from the art: the 2nd floor jutting window, etc. I worked on how to angle the roof for a long time and that was the first element I locked down. Then I built the walls, scrapped the version I had done (which was a lot less textured and interesting) and redid it. I realized that if I didn't "complete" the roof, I could do a modest interior. I like Soccerkid and Jsnyderi's approach of always including an interior if possible. I included some things in the interior that aren't easily visible (a bed under the attic, a fireplace connected to the chimney, etc) but were satisfying for me to include anyway.

4. The story for the build became slightly bigger just because I had done an interior. I next worked on the landscaping and interior. I started with the rowan tree, because I had researched what trees commonly grow in Scandinavia and believed I could get "close" to a rowan, which is a beautiful tree, but I think the version in the build could be improved on a lot. I had looked at a lot of landscaping and foliage techniques from other builders at varying points and used some of the influence for the flowers and other plants, though I've seen foliage ideas using Lego elements that are much more dramatic and interesting and varied, and I simply didn't have the room for it.

5. So in a way, the process is about having some intentions or ideas and then triaging them as you realize an element isn't working, you don't have room, etc. The most fun part is after all this, when you can tinker with a build and fine room to add interesting small elements, such as an axe in a stump, or what-have-you. I've also found myself more willing to scrap a "first draft" of a build and redo it, which I did a little here and completely for this one:

Large elements of that build, such as the walls and arches, weren't part of the first version. After I had the scene I wanted, which is basic, I was able to enhance the build and the subsequent story by adding elements like the robot butler, wall displays, etc. This is a playful part of MOCing for me and often winds up paying off when I sit down to write a little build story.

 

[ER0L]

Thanks for adding me LegoModularFan, though I could tell you more and more interesting things about car building, I guess.  However, since I’ve been asked, some thoughts about my approach regarding buildings.

I must admit that buildings aren’t my favourites when it comes to moccing - probably that’s why I’ve built only a few of them so far. Buildings are parts consuming and expensive, you can’t do much with them, the whole effort often results in just one more facade among others in a row which hardly gets the attention it may deserve - 3 of the 4 walls invisible which is rather a waste of bricks.

On the other hand buildings are most important regarding the all-over look of a layout. They are what jumps into the eye at first at a Lego convention, long before you may recognize that the cars don’t look bad either - which they shouldn’t, of course, once people approach and take a closer look.

So yes, you have to think about buildings, too, when you are interested in combining all sorts of City stuff in one larger layout, which from my point of view was and still is the original idea of “Lego City” - for children who play with City sets and also for us AFOLs who create their own ideas of a city built out of bricks. Some aspects regarding my approach:

• A rather technical aspect: Even if I think that Modular Buildings are nice as such, if you want to have just a row of great looking Lego buildings on display, in my opinion they aren’t suitable for more ambitious layouts (the pattern is rather strict, they don’t go well with road plates which themselves aren’t very variable etc.). That’s why I don’t build in the Modular style but in a way that allows for more variability - I’m actually using a combination of SNOT roads (2,5 layers) plus SNOT pavements (2,5 layers) plus separate buildings with a 5 layer foundation (see the example below) - by strictly separating those elements you get a much more variable setting: widths can be odd (see below), you decide where a t-junction is situated, not the pattern, the width of roads depends on their importance etc. This is also the principle of the joint “Route 66” layout together with fellow builders Steffen Kasteleiner and Gábor Horváth which has already been shown on several occasions so far.
• This might already illustrate that I don’t think of a building as a single MOC but always as part of a larger structure. This also involves thinking of the people (= minifigs) using a building or even living there, that’s why there are always some matching minifigures going with the buildings - they are an important aspect of what is “bringing to life” a Lego city in my opinion. Of course, the minifigures have their own cars - a nice opportunity to build some more vehicles. (Or vice versa: At first there was a stretched Hummer for the annual Academy Awards event in my Lego City, then I thought I might build a wedding chapel for the Route 66 layout going with it, as you can see below - in fact there’s such a wide range of nice roadside buildings going with US roads that a car aficionado like me has enough ideas regarding buildings for years …)
• “Bringing to life” also implies elements like moving devices (e. g. a spinning tire on the roof of a tire shop) and, of course, lighting. Buildings are large structures, you have a lot of room you can deal with (I can tell that this is quite different with cars) - so why not include everything that’s possible here? I’m often wondering why there aren’t more illuminated buildings (and trains, and trucks, and ships btw.) because this enhances the possibilities very much in my opinion. There’s nothing more beautiful than an enlightened City at night, I guess. And Lego grants everything that is necessary to do so, even without any third party parts (on the wedding chapel I’ve tried to use all kinds of older and newer Lego lighting stuff in combination, see below).

These might be the most important aspects concerning buildings from my point of view, I guess. Regarding building techniques I can’t tell you much since I’m not specialized in that. But it rather seems to me that large structures like buildings allow for more special techniques than, say, cars since stability can always be granted elsewhere - which is often not the case in car building.

Regarding the building process: I hardly use any digital tools - difficult to explain why not. I guess if I was more into buildings I'd use them more often - regarding car building at rather small scales I have the impression that quite a few things don’t work properly with them. Also, I guess that by designing a model digitally you have to build it twice - once on your computer and a second time using the actual bricks which might not behave as planned in reality, e. g. regarding stability - but again this might rather be a car builder’s perspective.

Instead, I build countless rather colourful preliminary versions which are then refined with more and more details. It’s also an important aspect to get some distance to the model, maybe even not look at it for a day or so because you get used to it too much and don’t see the mistakes you’ve made. Sometimes it also helps to show it to somebody else to evaluate it.

Those might be the most important aspects regarding buildings coming from ER0L’s Garage, I guess. Thanks again to LegoModularFan for the opportunity to describe my approach, and thanks to all for reading all this stuff.

Examples:

Painted Lady (San Francisco Victorian Townhouse, 21 studs wide)

Wedding Chapel and stretch Hummer (detail of the Route 66 layout together with Steffen Kasteleiner & Gábor Horváth)

[paupadros]

Just remebered the article I wrote for HispaBrick, might be adequate for this topic. It's not per say 100% a tutorial, but it exemplifies my way of building very well.  It's here, if you're interested.

[LegoModularFan]

Thanks a lot, @mccoyed, @ER0L and @paupadros! Sorry for my late response, I'm quite busy with work these days! 

On 6/5/2018 at 9:22 PM, ER0L said:

I must admit that buildings aren’t my favourites when it comes to moccing

But they are definitely worth looking at and being inspired... 

On 6/5/2018 at 9:22 PM, ER0L said:

Gábor Horváth

Already mentioned here! 

On 6/5/2018 at 9:22 PM, ER0L said:

This also involves thinking of the people (= minifigs) using a building or even living there, that’s why there are always some matching minifigures going with the buildings - they are an important aspect of what is “bringing to life” a Lego city in my opinion.

Thanks for precising this. I feel this is important as well!

On 6/5/2018 at 9:22 PM, ER0L said:

• “Bringing to life” also implies elements like moving devices (e. g. a spinning tire on the roof of a tire shop) and, of course, lighting. Buildings are large structures, you have a lot of room you can deal with (I can tell that this is quite different with cars) - so why not include everything that’s possible here? I’m often wondering why there aren’t more illuminated buildings (and trains, and trucks, and ships btw.) because this enhances the possibilities very much in my opinion. There’s nothing more beautiful than an enlightened City at night, I guess. And Lego grants everything that is necessary to do so, even without any third party parts (on the wedding chapel I’ve tried to use all kinds of older and newer Lego lighting stuff in combination, see below).

I really like the ideas you gave here. I'll definitely keep this part in my mind to use! I didn't really thought about lights before but it would be surely nice to see more illuminate buildings. 

On 6/5/2018 at 9:22 PM, ER0L said:

Thanks again to LegoModularFan for the opportunity to describe my approach, and thanks to all for reading all this stuff.

Thank you for taking time to write!

On 6/7/2018 at 3:34 PM, paupadros said:

Just remebered the article I wrote for HispaBrick, might be adequate for this topic. It's not per say 100% a tutorial, but it exemplifies my way of building very well.  It's here, if you're interested.

Thanks for sharing this here, this topic is becoming a real reference topic! 

[Digger of Bricks]

If anyone here likes unofficial Lego books, No Starch Press has three upcoming publications that may be of interest to readers of this topic, and this subforum for that matter:

The LEGO Architecture Idea Book: 1001 Ideas for Brickwork, Siding, Windows, Columns, Roofing, and Much, Much More! by Alice Finch

Spoiler

The LEGO Neighborhood Book 2: Build Your Own City! by Bryan Lyles and Jason Lyles

Spoiler

LEGO Micro Cities: Build Your Own Mini Metropolis! by Jeff Friesen

Spoiler

 

Edited June 10, 2018 by Digger of Bricks