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caperberry

Architecture Contest: the Young Vic 2006

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My entry is in the Architect Series category and is a London theatre two doors down from me, the Young Vic, as redeveloped by Haworth Tompkins in 2006. I have represented the theatre in micro scale; the total height is just over 5 bricks! I decided against adding a decal of Patrick Stewart default_blink.gif

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(You can’t see the orange beneath the metal mesh very well in my photo of the real theatre, so have a look at this picture. It changes dramatically according to the time of day and where you stand.)

Here is the reverse angle of the facade showing the dramatic auditorium and the workshop to the right.

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The rear of the building faces a street that runs at a slight angle – so I had to use several hinges. And seeing as I was using hinges, I figured…

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The model swings open to show (left to right) the interior of the main auditorium, the two-floor foyer and the second auditorium, called the Maria.

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More pictures of the building and the model are on my Flickr account.

About the building and the architects

To fully appreciate the building I need to briefly explain its interesting history. The site was full of Victorian shops and houses until it was bombed in 1941, killing nearly fifty people in a shelter. Only one shop survived the destruction; a butcher’s.

In 1970 the first incarnation of Young Vic was built to temporarily house the Royal Shakespeare Company in between their move from the Old Vic (just down the road) to the Barbican. Because of limited funds and the fact that a building was only needed for 5 years, architect Bill Howell built the auditorium out of breeze blocks and used the old butcher’s shop as a foyer! But this temporary building, and the works staged in it, proved so popular it never stopped being used.

Over thirty years passed before the much needed redevelopment happened. Haworth Tompkins retained the iconic Victorian butcher’s shop (the tall narrow tan building in the centre) and the breeze block auditorium, but wrapped it in a new shell painted orange and covered in a metal mesh. Other required spaces (including two new auditoria) were designed around them, "a conglomerate order rather than a single compositional statement." All the planning was done in consultation with the various staff of the theatre, and the set builders even helped build it!

About the model

Ever since Fallingwater brought me out of my Dark Age, I've thought about modelling this theatre. The colours, the angled corners and the effect of the metal mesh all attracted me. Fallingwater contained that wonderful surprise of being able to remove the building from the landscape. I wanted to include a surprise here too and the hinged ‘dolls house’ opening grew very naturally out of the need to use hinges in the model. But was a total pain to build robustly!

I finally decided to include the random small windows at the rear of the building; it felt dull without them. They are mostly achieved with just jumpers and panels, but there is a little SNOT there too.

I really enjoyed this build and am grateful to Eurobricks for giving me the opportunity to combine my loves of LEGO, architecture and local history! Thanks for reading.

Edited by caperberry
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This is amazing. The exterior is wonderful, but the fact that it swings open... it just adds a whole new dimension to the building. Fantastic work!

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This is amazing. The exterior is wonderful, but the fact that it swings open... it just adds a whole new dimension to the building. Fantastic work!

Thanks so much L@go!! That's a relief to hear. It certainly added lots of "dimensions" (read: aggravation) to the build!

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The fact that the whole thing opens might not be very traditional Lego Architecture-wise, but that doesn't mean it isn't awesome! :wub: Very cool stuff, caperberry. This building was unknown to me (like a lot of the ones entered in this contest so far), but it looks very accurate at such a small scale. Good luck! :thumbup:

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The fact that the whole thing opens might not be very traditional Lego Architecture-wise, but that doesn't mean it isn't awesome! :wub: Very cool stuff, caperberry. This building was unknown to me (like a lot of the ones entered in this contest so far), but it looks very accurate at such a small scale. Good luck! :thumbup:

Thanks Jim! It was the 'interlocking puzzle' aspect of 21005 Fallingwater that inspired me, but yes it's perhaps more on a par with 375 Castle default_laugh_new.gif I wish LEGO would do more of this kind of thing with the Architecture models. Display models are great, but having one aspect of 'playability' really reaches out to people.

I've also enjoyed learning about some new buildings from the contest entries, it's been an unexpected surprise.

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Was very nice. Event to show off the inside of the great idea, especially ...

Thank you Hass! It seemed the right thing to do, because I had to use hinges in the building anyway. But it meant I could not use SNOT & offset techniques for the front of the building to make it even more accurate, because you would see the filler bricks from the inside. But I am still happy with the front, it was worth the sacrifice to have the building open up.

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Really love this. You know, I saw Hamlet there and didn't even notice that it was orange underneath the mesh!!

And the fact that you've added the auditorium interior is the icing on the cake.

Well done on a brilliant model and good luck with the contest. :classic:

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Really love this. You know, I saw Hamlet there and didn't even notice that it was orange underneath the mesh!!

And the fact that you've added the auditorium interior is the icing on the cake.

Well done on a brilliant model and good luck with the contest. :classic:

Thanks so much Roger! You must have been having a really good conversation default_laugh_new.gif I wish I had seen it... by the time I heard how good it was it had sold out. Of course.

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Very nice. I used to walk past this building daily and your representation is spot on.

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Very nice. I used to walk past this building daily and your representation is spot on.

Thank you Cook! I put a lot of emphasis on getting proportions correct so it's nice to hear that from someone who knows the building.

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