2019 LEGO Architecture

[henrysunset]

2019 is just around the corner, so it's probably time to create a new thread for discussing the upcoming sets.

As of now, there are two sets coming out on January 1, 2019:

• #21043 San Francisco (skyline)
• #21044 Paris (skyline)

 

It is fair to assume that there are a couple other sets being explored for 2019, since sets receive a number when they are in the production process.  Since Las Vegas was delayed and re-designed, it received a new set number, 21047.  That gives us hope that 21045 and 21046 are also coming out in 2019 - although we have no way of knowing what those sets might be.

 

 

I'm also excited that I had a chance to build both of the new sets.  The first one I built was #21043 San Francisco, which is an overall great set, despite a few sections which aren't as elegant as I would have hoped.  It also marks the first set int he skyline series with significant terrain features, and the first to leverage Forced Perspective to add visual depth. I look forward to sharing my review of the Paris set soon too!

#21043 San Francisco.  LINK: http://brickarchitect.com/2018/review-21043-lego-san-francisco-skyline/

 

 

Question: Which of these two new sets are you most excited about?

[Herky]

Paris definitely, I will get both but they seemed to have really not done a great job with SF.  GGB is 2D and really the other buildings don't do much for me, although I like Alcatraz in there.  The grey building looks like a phallus symbol and the white little tower in front of it even more so...just not good.  Paris is much better thought out in my mind. 

[henrysunset]

I am working on the Paris review, which I hope to share too.  The Paris model is much less ambitious, and more similar to the rest of the series.  It does incorporate some nice mini-builds.

[4eva]

http://aminoapps.com/c/LEGOArchitectur

I made an Amino for the LEGO Architecture fanbase if anyone wanted to join.

[Digger of Bricks]

New Elementary - LEGO® ARCHITECTURE: ROK ZGALIN KOBE INTERVIEW

[Herky]

A poster on FB recently said 21045 was coming out and is related to Washington DC.  You can imagine the speculation, is it a skyline or a building?  Most felt DC has been done too much already and other cities/countries around the world deserve some love from TLC.  I agree with them.  Will be interesting to see how this plays out.

[ndawgg]

Yes...DC has some great buildings/monuments, but I feel like focusing so much on one American city isn't great.  I know nobody cares about Canada except Canadians, but this Canuck would love to have a Toronto skyline to represent my city :)

[KevinMD]

Aside from a skyline, I don’t see much left worth doing in DC. And I can think of plenty of other single piece structures and skylines that I’d rather have, so I’m with you guys in hoping this proves false.

[julesvincent]

I can actually see a few things: a re-done White House like they did with Guggenheim and Burj, the Washington Monument or practically anything on the Mall they haven‘t done yet...

[jluck]

DC would make an interesting left to right design around the mall if they wanted to try something new. I’d likely skip it as I’ve already got the regular dc architecture sets. However, Paris was already well represented and they did its skyline so you never know. 

[KevinMD]

On 1/8/2019 at 3:42 AM, julesvincent said:

I can actually see a few things: a re-done White House like they did with Guggenheim and Burj, the Washington Monument or practically anything on the Mall they haven‘t done yet...

I don’t see the WH as anywhere as poorly represented as the other two, but I’ll acknowledge it’s always a possibility with Lego.  

I disagree about the mall though.  Aside from the WM there isn’t anything Lego would tackle.  No war monuments and the Smithsonians would not have worldwide recognition (plus you wouldn’t do one museum so you’re looking at a skyline type setup anyway). Even if you include the tidal basin, the FDR memorial isn’t happening, MLK is unlikely, and I think the Jefferson monument as the most possible yet too similar to Lincoln. I also can’t believe they’d waste a full-size set on the wash monument.  

I would put money on skyline, if the rumor is true. 

[julesvincent]

54 minutes ago, KevinMD said:

I don’t see the WH as anywhere as poorly represented as the other two, but I’ll acknowledge it’s always a possibility with Lego.  

I disagree about the mall though.  Aside from the WM there isn’t anything Lego would tackle.  No war monuments and the Smithsonians would not have worldwide recognition (plus you wouldn’t do one museum so you’re looking at a skyline type setup anyway). Even if you include the tidal basin, the FDR memorial isn’t happening, MLK is unlikely, and I think the Jefferson monument as the most possible yet too similar to Lincoln. I also can’t believe they’d waste a full-size set on the wash monument.  

I would put money on skyline, if the rumor is true. 

I actually don't see a skyline happen. WH or WM are still my biggest bets, if it is a DC set. Why wouldn't they do the Smithsonian Castle? It's known worldwide and with Louvre and Guggenheim they did "one" museum twice already.

[jimmynick]

There are plenty of possibilities left for skylines: Barcelona, Tokyo, Athens (Acropolis?), Brasilia, Rio, Chandigarh, Hong Kong, etc.

18 minutes ago, julesvincent said:

Why wouldn't they do the Smithsonian Castle? It's known worldwide

Is it really? I live in the area so I'm spoiled and don't really have a worldwide perspective on the Smithsonian.

[julesvincent]

Lego really loves NYC and London.

According to "zusammengebaut" covering the Nuremberg toy fair, an Empire State Building (21046) is coming later in the year. It will be about 30-40cm high, very detailed, 99,99 EUR.

Another set will be Trafalgar Square (21045) with the fountain and a doubledecker bus, 79,99 EUR

Edited January 29, 2019 by julesvincent

[legonerd54321]

I wished they were allowed pictures.

 

I wish they'd do The Gateway Arch as the next "big D2C" building (like Big Ben and Opera House) or St. Louis as a skyline. Here's to 2020, though!

[Lucarex]

Whilst iconic, both Traf Sq and ESB are sorely lacking in terms of architectural value and aesthetics. Obviously chosen for mass appeal and recognition.

Sadly I guess that's a prerequisite for detailed models at this high price-point (same as SOL) but remains to be seen how well they sell. Not an impulse buy like the cityscapes.

May as well rename Architecture theme to Tourist Landmarks.

 

 

Edited January 30, 2019 by Lucarex

[julesvincent]

Well, I think ESB does have quite of an Architectural impact, so I can understand that it is being added to the line. Trafalgar on the other hand is like Trevi fountain just landmark, which could've been replaced with something of more impact.

[tafkatb]

The Empire State Building is still undeniably way more of a tourist attraction than it is a hallmark of design. I have a degree in architecture and I couldn't even name the firm that designed it off the top of my head. (It was Shreve, Lamb, & Harmon, by the way, who are noted as "best known for designing the Empire State Building" in the first sentence of their Wikipedia article.) In my more cynical moods I'm inclined to agree with @Lucarex about just renaming the line and being done with it. I mean, I try not to be one of those cranky old why-doesn't-TLG-cater-directly-to-my-sophisticated-tastes AFOLs, but a tiny part of me will always be bitter that the planned Eames House set was scrapped in favor of a Leaning Tower of Pisa. 

[julesvincent]

I can't disagree with you, they're all more known as a landmark than of architectural significance. But to feature a Building in an Architecture series that has been the tallest building for 30sth years isn't too far off. Wiki also says:

"The Empire State Building is an American cultural icon ... . A symbol of New York City, the tower has been named as one of the Seven Wonders of the Modern World by the American Society of Civil Engineers. The Empire State Building and its ground-floor interior have been designated as a city landmark by the New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission, and were confirmed as such by the New York City Board of Estimate. It was also designated a National Historic Landmark in 1986, and was ranked number one on the American Institute of Architects' List of America's Favorite Architecture in 2007."

Edited January 31, 2019 by julesvincent

[tafkatb]

All valid points as well, and I suppose the discussion over what qualifies a building as capital-A Architecture will never be any more clearly resolved than what distinguishes a book as capital-L Literature. I can certainly say one point in favor of the new ESB set is that being a similar size/piece count to last year's Statue of Liberty means it can convey the proportions and sheer height of the building much better than the previous iterations. 

[henrysunset]

I agree with the sentiment that ESB is a bit boring, and architecturally bland... I will quote my Interview with Rok Žgalin Kobe  from last year (link: https://brickarchitect.com/2018/interview-lego-architecture-rok-zgalin-kobe/), as I think it helps add clarity around which buildings The LEGO Group think make good LEGO sets...

 

 

Quote

Brick Architect: ... Do you think there is a tension between selecting famous landmarks versus buildings that are architecturally important? Do you need to educate your colleagues at LEGO to better understand those buildings that are architecturally important?

Rok Žgalin Kobe: I can relate to that one… At the end of the day you need to fulfill quite a few criteria, to begin with, making it a lovely LEGO set. A lot of things that are great Architecturally would not necessarily translate to a great LEGO set.

What is well known amongst aficionados of Architecture might not be well known globally, so that of course plays into it. There are a lot of buildings that are well known for what they are (and what they were), but not as much for their architecture. At least for many buildings of significance, a certain amount of effort was put towards the architecture of the building.

The #21030 United States Capitol Building is a case-in-point; you can’t argue it’s architectural merit, but it is also the Capitol. It ticks all the boxes, that makes it easier in that respect. Same with the Statue of Liberty.

 

Unfortunately, I don't think we will see anything like Villa Savoye again from the LEGO Architecture series, because it has too little mainspream appeal and awareness.  While this totally bums me out as I want to see the LEGO Architecture series raise awareness of Architecture as a field, commercially viable projects like ESB are likely to win out in most cases.

[Calunca]

Trafalgar Square is the smaller set of the two summer novelties. The building as such accounts for only about a quarter of the total square area. In the middle are the two fountains and the statue. The back of the narrow building can be "opened" in three places, so it can be seen on the box. In the middle is a golden microfigure "hidden". At the front right is also a red double-decker bus on the way. Due to the scale, the Trafalger Square should do well next to the Buckingham Palace 21029: London sends its regards .

The imposing Empire State Building is about 40 centimeters (estimated!) High. The replica of the once tallest skyscraper in the world looks fantastic, is very true to the original and reminiscent of the smaller version of the skyline set! At the top of the top are some metallic silver elements similar to the James Bond Aston Martin DB5 10262 installed. The taxis come in the same "two-brick" design as the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum 21035, but of course the scale is not identical. The façade is displayed with 1 × 2 grill tiles in tan, down in the interplay with light gray tiles. As a New York City fan I was and am thrilled!

[julesvincent]

@henrysunset Hey Tom, I just kinda relized that you are the one behind the brickarchitect. Thanks a lot for that awesome page!!!

Concerning the awareness of Lego Architecture, in Germany it is now sold at every retailer that carries Lego. That is something that started just now with the chinese wall and the SOL. And even more so, the whole lineup is featured in the retailer catalog here, which is also a first. 

[Lucarex]

On 1/30/2019 at 4:13 PM, julesvincent said:

Well, I think ESB does have quite of an Architectural impact, so I can understand that it is being added to the line. Trafalgar on the other hand is like Trevi fountain just landmark, which could've been replaced with something of more impact.

Interesting you compare Traf Sq to the Trevi. I guess they are both landmarks, but having lived in both London and Rome, one is in a different league altogether IMO.

Likewise in Lego terms, the Fontana model remains my favourite Architecture model and I can't even imagine wanting to buy a brick-built representation of a pigeon-infested expanse with a column statue in the middle, a generic classical gallery on one side and a few stone lions scattered about.

As for ESB, I'd rather they looked at upscaling on the Chrysler Building from the Skyline NYC set. Infinitely more beautiful and complex, and arguably just as iconic.

On 1/31/2019 at 2:31 AM, tafkatb said:

but a tiny part of me will always be bitter that the planned Eames House set was scrapped in favor of a Leaning Tower of Pisa. 

WTH? I never knew this. 

Edited February 2, 2019 by Lucarex

[Lucarex]

On 1/31/2019 at 7:09 AM, julesvincent said:

"...the tower has been named as one of the Seven Wonders of the Modern World by the American Society of Civil Engineers."

Yeah, bit over the top that, doesn't really qualify as architectural merit