New Frank Lloyd Wright models by LEGO Architecture founder Adam Reed Tucker

[henrysunset]

Long-time fans of the LEGO Architecture series are probably familiar with Adam Reed Tucker, since he founded the LEGO Architecture series in 2007 in partnership with The LEGO Group.  Adam designed 16 sets in the LEGO Architecture series, and helped write the book LEGO Architecture: The Visual Guide. 

I recently noticed (on the Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation's website) that Adam designed three nice looking models based on iconic Frank Lloyd Wright buildings which have not been included in the LEGO Architecture series yet...

 

Martin House (1904, Buffalo, NY), 1961 pieces.

 

Taliesin West (1937, Scottsdale, AZ), 1763 pieces.

 

Unity Temple (1908, Oak Park, IL), 912 pieces.

 

 

All three models are designed using common LEGO Elements, so you can try to re-create them from the photos if you like.  I personally really like the model of Taliesin West, with it's angular roof-line of alternating white and dark red stripes. 
 

In full disclosure: All three models are available for sale through his new company The Atom Brick, but the kits do not include LEGO Bricks.  Instead, they come with parts supplied by LOZ, which are 3/4 the size of LEGO bricks, but have the same shapes and proportions.
 

Because I love seeing beautiful Architecture models, I reached out to Adam to learn a lot more about the models, his passion for Architecture, and his decision to create a new company in order to create these sets.  I interviewed Adam and wrote an article about these models on my website—It's an interesting read for anyone who loves the LEGO Architecture series like I do!

 

Sincerely,
—Tom Alphin

 

LINK TO ARTICLE: brickarchitect.com/2020/adam-reed-tucker-the-atom-brick/

 

P.S.  I definitely have mixed feelings that these nice looking models aren't available with LEGO Bricks.  What do you think of the models?

Edited February 10, 2020 by henrysunset

[paupadros]

Interesting! I'm really glad he got involved in the makings of LEGO Architecutre, it's pretty much one of the few themes the sets of which I look forward to seeing every year. I missed out on the architect-centered buildings of the beginning and sincerely doubt we're seeing another Robie House at this point  I really like your website!

Edited February 27, 2020 by paupadros

[JGW3000]

Very exciting development, and the smaller size is more convenient for display. But, I am wondering how he may handle more complex FLW designs, such as the Beth Sholom Congregation, with its famous Mt. Sinai shape, in Elkins Park, Pennsylvania (which is listed by the American Institute of Architects as one of the 17 American buildings which are to be preserved as an example of Wright's contribution to American architecture, according to Wikipedia). Not being part of TLG may enable Adam to do subjects that were off-limits, such as churches and other religious buildings, which have some of the most iconic architecture (The Vatican, etc.).

Edited February 12, 2020 by JGW3000

[KevinMD]

God I wish instructions were available for these.  Don’t want to fork over the coin for the set, would rather build in Lego.

[Options]

The packaging and the book that accompanies these sets are just beautiful.  However, I found the pieces are too small for me to enjoy the build.  I’ve sent one of the sets to another Lego architecture fan to get his take on it.

[Herky]

I am putting T West together right now.  Options is right, this set is amazing with the accoutrements it comes with.  Box very nice, instructions are in a hardback book and just excellent.  Now let's get to the build. The pieces, being 3/4 size at first I thought that shouldn't be too bad.  Ha, once I looked at them and realized what 3/4 size of a dot is...well let's just say this is going to take longer than any Lego build I have ever done.  I am what I call a sloppy builder.  I just dump all the pieces out and grab what I need to look through.  I don't think that tactic will work with these, the pieces are just too small and so hard to find in the jumble tactic.  I am going to have to separate by size and color to get this done right.  I had to redo step 4 & 5 due to grabbing the wrong size piece.  You have to definitely count the number of "dots" on the piece and ensure you have the right piece.  

I feel Lego is just the right size, are some builds then bigger, sure, but I think the enjoyability for builders like Options and I are just that, we like to put it together and then put it on the shelf.  The techniques Lego comes up with are fun, but when you go tiny on the pieces, that doesn't equal enjoyability.  I am on step 22 now, going to finish it and then come back for an update.

[Options]

When I handled the pieces, the feeling was (at least to me) smaller than 3/4 the size of a comparable Lego piece.  I felt as if I needed a loupe.  Not fun.  And, I actually think you sacrifice detail when you reduce the size of the pieces. 

[Lucarex]

11 hours ago, Options said:

When I handled the pieces, the feeling was (at least to me) smaller than 3/4 the size of a comparable Lego piece.  I felt as if I needed a loupe.  Not fun.  And, I actually think you sacrifice detail when you reduce the size of the pieces. 

That’s interesting as in the interview with ART, he clearly says the complete opposite almost as the main reason for this venture.

[Options]

Small pieces on a large set = detail.

Small pieces on an already small set = frustration, hard to see ‘details’ and smallness for the sake of smallness.

Think about it.  Did mini-modulars equal more detail than the original regular size modulars? 

Edited February 24, 2020 by Options

[henrysunset]

I just posted a review of the Unity Temple set at brickarchitect.com and have to agree with several of the comments on this thread...

1. 3/4-sized bricks is factual but misleading...  These bricks are really tiny!  They are 3/4 of the width, 3/4 of the length and 3/4 of the height.  (If you compare the size by volume, it's more like 2/5-sized bricks!)
2. The packaging and hardbound instruction booklet are top notch.  I talk about it in my review and included some photos, but was definitely impressed.  (I actually think it is too nice - the empty box is very heavy, increasing natural resources to make and to ship the completed set.  A slightly lighter weight box with the same high quality printing would still feel like a premium package.)

 

 

In my review, I talk about both the set design, and the tiny LOZ bricks.  Here are some highlights...
 

Set Design:

In general, the model is well designed, and comparable to sets in the Architecture series.  The closest comparison is the Imperial Hotel, which employs similar building techniques even tough the building is from a later transitional period in his "prairie style" of architecture.

I did notice some illegal building techniques, and some steps of the instruction booklet which could have been made clearer.  I also disliked the building technique used for the trees (which was made worse by some tolerance issues on the tiny LOZ bricks.)

 

 

LOZ Bricks:

My first impression of the LOZ bricks was twofold: They are better quality than I expected, and they are really tiny (see calculations above...)

Once I started building, I did discover a few mounds which were of inconsistent quality, and about three parts which had one sharper edge than I would have liked to see.

I do think that the bricks are too small for the intricate building techniques which are common in the Architecture series.  Stacking 1x1 elements and ensuring that they are aligned correctly was time consuming and miserable at times.  (It's already difficult enough with larger LEGO-sized pieces!)  The smaller size is an interesting novelty at first, but in practice the small size is more frustrating than the minor quality issues I encountered.

 

ʀᴇᴠɪᴇᴡ: Unity Temple (The Atom Brick)

 

Sincerely,
—Tom Alphin

 

P.S. What do you think of the set design—Is it something you are interested in adding to your collection?  

P.S.S. Do you have any further questions about the set or the LOZ bricks? I'd be happy to let you know what I think, and I'm sure @Options would be happy to share their thoughts too!

[tafkatb]

Unity Temple is easily in my top five Frank Lloyd Wright buildings, but a model that completely ignores the interior is really missing the point. I'm interested in Taliesin West and some of the planned future models, but won't be bothering with this.

Also, the claim that smaller bricks = more detail seems plausible on the surface, but they're clearly not being used to that effect from what we've seen so far. The only thing the smaller bricks are achieving is a smaller model.

[Options]

tafkatb really said it all in one sentence.

”The only thing the smaller bricks are achieving is a smaller model.”

Perfect.  I’m outa here!

 

[Lucarex]

Very disappointing to hear.

[Herky]

One more thing I am noticing with T West, there are white pieces and there are clear pieces.  Unfortunately the directions do not really distinguish what is a white piece and what is clear, so it has been slower when I have come to that part to make sure I am using the right piece.  The other part I would critique is that it is very hard to know where your next step pieces are supposed to go in the set.  Lego does this sometimes as well, but with Lego and the size it isn't too bad, with this tiny size, I feel like I need a magnifying glass to the directions to know where the next step pieces should be placed.  More to come...on step 59

[Herky]

So I finished it finally.  I had taken some time off of it, and was a bit frustrated with it due to the clear/white piece issue.  I may or may not have gotten it right.  When I was done I was actually stunned.  The reason being was there was about 60 or 70 pieces left over.  I kept thinking there was something wrong since I turned that last page and had all these pieces and what the heck was going on.  Honestly I am not sure if that was intentional or not but it was weird.  Lego usually gives some extra pieces but not that many.  I could build a mini house or something with what is left.  

So the other thing that I didn't know until at least 2/3 of the way through is that there was actually a brick separator there.  I just thought it was a weird piece I would get to in the build.  It is a clear piece.  Lego makes sure theirs is orange and stands out.  If you didn't stop to look closely at this, you would never know it was a brick separator.  

My final words on this build too are that Mr. Tucker is full of ...  If the T West set was done in full size Lego then it would be just fine.  The smaller bricks do nothing for the build other than frustrate the builder and I call BS on him for saying he couldn't do the detail like he wanted with full size bricks.  This build was 13.5 inches long by 8 inches wide.  If that is 3/4 the size then a full size Lego build would be something like 20 inches by maybe 12 or 14 at the most.  Easily done.  

If you really like FLW and have patience, get the sets...if not, save your money, save your time, save your sanity.  

[KevinMD]

I was wondering when you’d come back to post your thoughts, @Herky

kinda a bummer to hear though.  I felt like maybe Adam got frustrated that Lego wasn’t supporting structures that are architecturally significant (or even continuing to support the FLW stuff) and used that as motivation to move on but if the building experience with these other blocks isn’t fun or interesting I guess that means easy pass. 

[Options]

Thanks, herky.   So, if I understand it correctly, Lego’s patents on the bricks themselves expired a while back.  So, unless he has some sort of non-compete clause with wording not allowing him to use exact Lego type bricks, why didn’t he just use regular size Lego bricks made by another manufacturer?  The larger bricks combined with smaller pieces would actually allow for far more detail.  
 

herky....the other two FLW sets sit unopened in my storage unit.  Had enough fun or, since there’s no sports on tv because of covid19, want another try at one of these?  

Edited March 14, 2020 by Options

[Herky]

Kevin - I agree, I feel Lego has moved on in the Architecture series and someone there just really, really, really loves certain buildings and is too afraid to branch out to do any one of a multitude of buildings out there that are suiting to the medium.  I feel sad about that to be honest, when the very first sets came out, I was thrilled and finally a cool theme that was in my realm that I liked.  Sure I had many other sets but this was fresh and new and so many possibilities.  Now we are in this 10 plus years with so many of the same buildings...ugh.

Options - um let those sets sit there a while.  I looked at the pictures in the top of this thread and I know for sure I didn't do one part right as I did it with clear instead of white.  I am not sure my brain is ready for this type of building again for a while.  I do have Netflix and was recommended the show Rebellion about Irish history which is right up my alley.  I also would rather do a 1000 piece puzzle with one eye right now that try another set at the moment.  :-)