Modular Building Sets - Rumours and Discussion

[Digger of Bricks]

8 hours ago, Nexogeek said:

I have to disagree, I hope they continue with the time period the diner is set in, and keep with that style. I for one am a big fan of buildings from that time period, they did "familiar style" for a good amount of time and now its time for change then new change once this style runs its course cycle.

If that's what you're hoping for, what would you expect and/or hope to see for 2019 and beyond?

8 hours ago, Withacee said:

Can't wait for the 2019 modular.
It will be very interesting to see if LEGO will continue this new design line.

Likewise, what would you expect and/or hope to see in the future if the Modular Building line were to continue in this direction? Personally, I could see something automobile related in succession, perhaps like, say, either a mechanic's shop, a gas station, or a automobile showroom.

[Withacee]

3 minutes ago, Digger of Bricks said:

Likewise, what would you expect and/or hope to see in the future if the Modular Building line were to continue in this direction? Personally, I could see something automobile related in succession, perhaps like, say, either a mechanic's shop, a gas station, or a automobile showroom.

A gas station/garage/mechanic's shop would be very welcome. This would go very well with the DD style, in my opinion.
Other than that, a doctor's practice or chemist's or apothecary would be great.
In any style, really. The first modulars were pretty standard, PR marked the beginning of a new style (more detail, smaller buildings, more interior), and maybe DD is another land mark. If I look at cities all over Europe, most businesses would fit nicely in with any of these styles.
Hotels, museums and the likes would fit perfectly in the DD art deco style.
Exciting!

[Nexogeek]

42 minutes ago, Digger of Bricks said:

If that's what you're hoping for, what would you expect and/or hope to see for 2019 and beyond?

Likewise, what would you expect and/or hope to see in the future if the Modular Building line were to continue in this direction? Personally, I could see something automobile related in succession, perhaps like, say, either a mechanic's shop, a gas station, or a automobile showroom.

100% agree that something automobile related would be great, the DD was originally a car showroom in the first drafts of it so if they went that route I doubt it would be anytime soon given they already spoke of it. A gas station with a service center would be great, i'm a big fan of gas stations and service stations from that era as are lots of people so the appeal for such a modular could be quite vast even if someone isn't into Lego as we are but is an automobile collector it could appeal to them possibly as well. 

Other then that an arcade, bowling alley, or an ice cream shop would be pretty cool in that style 

[Digger of Bricks]

24 minutes ago, Nexogeek said:

100% agree that something automobile related would be great, the DD was originally a car showroom in the first drafts of it so if they went that route I doubt it would be anytime soon given they already spoke of it.

Now, the only problem with automobile related institutions, is that automobiles in modular sets usually haven't been very well received by fans of the line. Hopefully, a modular set that is centered around automobiles can change that opinion, depending on how well the cars are done.

24 minutes ago, Nexogeek said:

Other then that an arcade, bowling alley, or an ice cream shop would be pretty cool in that style 

I too can see all three of those being possibilities, as I sort of feel that the Downtown Diner has set a new course for the line towards more institutions centered around "fun" so to speak.

Edited May 12, 2018 by Digger of Bricks

[Bricked1980]

15 hours ago, Digger of Bricks said:

Something pre-1950's Americania, that is?

I think after DD was so very strongly influenced by American culture, I'm wondering if they'll alternate and the next one might have more of a European theme to it.

2 hours ago, Withacee said:

A gas station/garage/mechanic's shop would be very welcome. This would go very well with the DD style, in my opinion.

I agree a garage or something car related would be pretty cool.

1 hour ago, Digger of Bricks said:

Now, the only problem with automobile related institutions, is that automobiles in modular sets usually haven't been very well received by fans of the line

You have a good point and this is the main thing I can see getting in the way of an auto related modular. Quite a few people complained about the car in DD and how they'd rather the parts had been used for extra details in the building itself.

If they did a garage, service station or car showroom I could imagine it needing at least 2 vehicles which would eat in to the parts count even more.

2 hours ago, Digger of Bricks said:

what would you expect and/or hope to see for 2019 and beyond?

Dunno if anyone from TLG ever checks these forums but if they did they would notice the same topics crop up every year for most wanted modular buildings. From reading on here it seems to me that the most popular candidates are... Police station, museum, hotel and post office. I would love any of these.

I also like the idea of an Italian style pizza restaurant and ice cream shop. Don't think they'll do another food related one after the diner though.

A pub would be really cool as well.  I'd say that's very unlikely for an official set though.

[Nexogeek]

2 hours ago, Digger of Bricks said:

Now, the only problem with automobile related institutions, is that automobiles in modular sets usually haven't been very well received by fans of the line. Hopefully, a modular set that is centered around automobiles can change that opinion, depending on how well the cars are done.

I too can see all three of those being possibilities, as I sort of feel that the Downtown Diner has set a new course for the line towards more institutions centered around "fun" so to speak.

Most the dislike towards automobiles in modular sets is they take away from the piece count and don't have much reason, correct? If so a future modular was a car dealership or gas station with service station attached they would need cars so they wouldn't be as much out of place as the other two, and maybe be even better designed given the set would kinda revolve around cars.

I can see the modular sets lean towards fun for now, lots of ideas that fit the time period and style of the Downtown Diner are more "fun" then serious like previous modular's 

[koalayummies]

13 hours ago, Nexogeek said:

I have to disagree, I hope they continue with the time period the diner is set in, and keep with that style. I for one am a big fan of buildings from that time period, they did "familiar style" for a good amount of time and now its time for change then new change once this style runs its course cycle.

The Modular series has implemented and blended on many various iconic architectural styles and hasn't been limited to just one or any specific traditional or familiar style. Traditional style in the context of the Modular series would just mean predominantly 'Western-world' architecture from ~1500s onward (of which Art Deco is included though not very widespread due to it's short-lived acclaim).

Its highly unlikely given that each building has been fairly unique with a rather specific architectural style that they would do another Art Deco/Streamline Moderne style building any time soon. However as with other modulars there might be small styling cues or specific minor areas that borrow on one of those styles but DD is likely to be the only one from that style for at least some time given how many other untapped architecture styles there are that haven't been implemented in official sets. 

[Corporate Rat]

TBH I wanna see them tackle something like middle ages Europe, or ancient Rome. I like the mid 20th century style, and all, but I just wanna see something unorthodox, or something Lego wouldn't usually do.

[LegoModularFan]

The DD is a definitely unique modular and I love it. The color scheme doesn't look to me like Friends.  

Mike said "we need an hotel" in the designer video, didn't he? I can definitely see hotel fit with Art Deco, however I totally agree with @koalayummies that we're not getting any Art Deco anytime soon. So what about and Art Nouveau  hotel?  

[Digger of Bricks]

5 hours ago, Bricked1980 said:

If they did a garage, service station or car showroom I could imagine it needing at least 2 vehicles which would eat in to the parts count even more.

Nah, I'm pretty sure one car would suffice for both Lego and fans if that were to be the case.

5 hours ago, Bricked1980 said:

I also like the idea of an Italian style pizza restaurant and ice cream shop. Don't think they'll do another food related one after the diner though.

Perhaps an arcade/pizzeria combo could work?

4 hours ago, Nexogeek said:

Most the dislike towards automobiles in modular sets is they take away from the piece count and don't have much reason, correct? If so a future modular was a car dealership or gas station with service station attached they would need cars so they wouldn't be as much out of place as the other two, and maybe be even better designed given the set would kinda revolve around cars.

True, as its necessity would therefore not bug fans as much as before.

4 hours ago, koalayummies said:

Its highly unlikely given that each building has been fairly unique with a rather specific architectural style that they would do another Art Deco/Streamline Moderne style building any time soon.

I still hope to see an official modular which takes after a more refined, elegant form of Art Deco some time soon here, one that's less Raygun Gothic and Googie in its aesthetic.

3 hours ago, Corporate Rat said:

TBH I wanna see them tackle something like middle ages Europe, or ancient Rome. I like the mid 20th century style, and all, but I just wanna see something unorthodox, or something Lego wouldn't usually do.

I'd hope to someday see a series of Victorian and/or Dickensian English style modular buildings myself.

1 hour ago, LegoModularFan said:

So what about and Art Nouveau  hotel?  

I really hope they touch upon that style someday, but more importantly, I hope that it's even possible to capture for an official set! By the way, are you aware @Jim said he may have another opportunity to interview a Creator Expert designer this year? I submitted a question about Art Nouveau pertaining to the Modular Building line if he does get the chance. 

 

Edited May 12, 2018 by Digger of Bricks

[Corporate Rat]

2 hours ago, LegoModularFan said:

The DD is a definitely unique modular and I love it. The color scheme doesn't look to me like Friends.  

Mike said "we need an hotel" in the designer video, didn't he? I can definitely see hotel fit with Art Deco, however I totally agree with @koalayummies that we're not getting any Art Deco anytime soon. So what about and Art Nouveau  hotel?  

That would definitely be an interesting design choice, and I could see a bunch of advanced building techniques being used to create it.

[Digger of Bricks]

56 minutes ago, Corporate Rat said:

That would definitely be an interesting design choice, and I could see a bunch of advanced building techniques being used to create it.

While there are much more modest options as far as examples of Art Nouveau architecture go, I'd like to see Lego attempt something as crazy as, this for instance:

[koalayummies]

5 hours ago, LegoModularFan said:

So what about and Art Nouveau  hotel?  

 

4 hours ago, Digger of Bricks said:

I still hope to see an official modular which takes after a more refined, elegant form of Art Deco some time soon here, one that's less Raygun Gothic and Googie in its aesthetic.@Jim

 

Both of these are totally plausible and I'd love to see them as the MOCs built in these styles show the amazing possibility. There are a number of refined and evolved styles derived from Art Deco that would be great possibilities without being too similar (or even remotely similar) to DD and Art Nouveau would also be especially awesome. There are a lot of great newer parts that would be well suited to making these styles possible in Lego that not too long ago would have been challenging.

[Bricked1980]

I think the only reason they chose to design the diner in art deco style was because it was the obvious choice for a 1950s American Diner. I don't think there was necessarily any conscious effort to push the modular series in to a new exclusively 1950s art deco era going forward for all future modulars.

I think there's every possibility they could have a go at some sort of art nouveau design in the future but they'd only tackle it if that style suited the particular topic and theme of the set they wanted to create.

So I wonder what subject matter they could pick for a modular that would work really well in art nouveau? 

[ReplicaOfLife]

7 hours ago, Digger of Bricks said:

While there are much more modest options as far as examples of Art Nouveau architecture go, I'd like to see Lego attempt something as crazy as, this for instance:

*pic*

What and where is that? That looks out of this world!

[Digger of Bricks]

3 hours ago, RogerSmith said:

What and where is that? That looks out of this world!

Wikipedia - Gustave Strauven - Maison Saint-Cyr

3 hours ago, Bricked1980 said:

So I wonder what subject matter they could pick for a modular that would work really well in art nouveau? 

I'd immediately imagine that it would be something residential or another hotel, as most examples of Art Nouveau architecture I've typically seen seem to be in that vein.

8 hours ago, koalayummies said:

There are a number of refined and evolved styles derived from Art Deco that would be great possibilities without being too similar (or even remotely similar) to DD and Art Nouveau would also be especially awesome.

For instance, I've cited this abandoned Glasgow police headquarters here before as an example of what I'd like to see in terms of more "elegant" Art Deco, especially in terms of color.

Spoiler

 

 

[Aanchir]

Whatever the next modular building is, one thing I'd love is for it to be wheelchair-accessible. A couple years ago I was working on a combination bowling alley/arcade/pizza restaurant modular building, and I took specific care to include a ramp (rather than stairs) out front and an elevator to get to the second level inside — and this was before there was even an official wheelchair piece; I was using a brick-built chair I designed myself!

Now that there IS a wheelchair piece, making the next modular building compatible with it seems like a no-brainer. Plus, we haven't seen an elevator in a modular building since the Town Hall or a building with a ramp in the front in any modular building.

I still think that a bowling alley would be a good fit for the modular buildings series and vice-versa, partly because you really do need about that big a footprint to make a bowling alley with more than one lane in an enclosed space. That said, I'm not sure what era or design movement would be ideal for that. Bowling alleys do go back well over a century, but a lot of the bowling alleys and associated imagery I'm used to seeing in real life and in media are firmly rooted in the 80s or 90s. If 50s design styles and imagery were jarring for many AFOLs, then something that recent may very well be out of the question. I would like to see bright colors, though, not drab brown walls like in some really old-timey bowling alleys.

[Digger of Bricks]

5 hours ago, Aanchir said:

I still think that a bowling alley would be a good fit for the modular buildings series and vice-versa, partly because you really do need about that big a footprint to make a bowling alley with more than one lane in an enclosed space. That said, I'm not sure what era or design movement would be ideal for that.

Something architecturally like this Ideas project, perhaps?

Retro Bowling Alley by Astronaut Avila 

Spoiler

If anything, something following the aesthetic of the above project would take the modular building line further past the 1950's, and instead into the Populuxe look of the 60's. 

[LegoModularFan]

On 5/13/2018 at 3:38 AM, Digger of Bricks said:

While there are much more modest options as far as examples of Art Nouveau architecture go, I'd like to see Lego attempt something as crazy as, this for instance:

 

On 5/13/2018 at 10:43 AM, RogerSmith said:

That looks out of this world!

Isn't it? But I seriously wonder what you think about this, guys... 

Spoiler

The one above is my favorite Art Nouveau building I discovered so far. And my second favorite - way more easy to replicate with Lego but still not amazingly easy  - is these, especially the one on the right.

Spoiler

And what about a real Asian building? I really wonder why we still don't have one. I found quite a big amount of Asian buildings made out of Lego, I'm sharing here MOCs in different architectural styles I'd like to see the most:

Spoiler

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

To see more inspirational buildings (of all architectural styles), visit my Inspirational Modular and Non-Modular Building MOCs, I'd really appreciate to hear your opinions about the buildings I highlight and would love to see you share your favorite buildings there as well!

On 5/12/2018 at 7:41 PM, Bricked1980 said:

A pub would be really cool as well.  I'd say that's very unlikely for an official set though.

That's rather unfortunate. I'd love to see an English building soon, I think we miss them in the modular line. 

On 5/13/2018 at 1:58 PM, Digger of Bricks said:

For instance, I've cited this abandoned Glasgow police headquarters here before as an example of what I'd like to see in terms of more "elegant" Art Deco, especially in terms of color.

That's a nice building! I'd love to see a similar modular as well!

[Digger of Bricks]

5 hours ago, LegoModularFan said:

But I seriously wonder what you think about this, guys... 

Oh yes, definitely CRAZIER than the example I cited!  

5 hours ago, LegoModularFan said:

And my second favorite - way more easy to replicate with Lego but still not amazingly easy  - is these, especially the one on the right.

My gosh, those two are like real life gingerbread houses! 

5 hours ago, LegoModularFan said:

I found quite a big amount of Asian buildings made out of Lego, I'm sharing here MOCs in different architectural styles I'd like to see the most:

For obvious reasons, I particularly dig the fifth selection in that sampling, but I too would love to see oriental architecture tackled realistically for the modular building line! I know it's the most stereotypical example I could cite, but perhaps a shared Chinese take-out restaurant and martial arts studio would be the ticket? 

[Gpack418]

My two desired modulars would be:

1. Carwash.  I would love a modular carwash that would be a corner modular.  The car could enter one side and be on a curved track to exit the opposite corner.  The top level could be an apartment, or some kind of office.  This style can be more similar to the Downtown Diner with neon signs and typical American retro style.

2. An business office building.  Have a lobby room and mailroom on the first floor.  The second floor can have cubicles and perhaps a break-room for employees.  Finally a third floor could have the CEO's office with a balcony.  I would prefer this building be in the style of 1950's New York type of building.

[Digger of Bricks]

If anyone has any questions regarding the modular building line, the New Elementary blog is taking questions from readers which they hope they can ask to designers over at this weekend's Fan Media Days event! 

New Elementary - Fan Media Days Are Approaching! 

Quote

...This means we can bring you extra content this year: fascinating interviews conducted by Are J. Heiseldal. Are is a journalist who works for the Norwegian channel TV 2 Sporten, but more importantly he's an AFOL, well known throughout the worldwide LEGO community thanks to his involvement at events plus of course as L@GO on Flickr where you'll find his modern reinterpretations of classic 1980s City sets.

What would you like Are to ask LEGO employees? Add your suggested questions to the comments area below and he will include the most interesting ones.

We won't know until the day exactly which teams he will speak to but it might be any of the following: LEGO Minifigures, Unikitty, Harry Potter, LEGO Ideas, Brickheadz, LEGO Architecture, Jurassic Park, Star Wars, LEGO Friends, LEGO Creator Expert, LEGO Mindstorms and TT Games / LEGO Games. Also, he might interview members of the AFOL Engagement team: Tormod Askildsen (head of AFOL Engagement), Jan Beyer (manager AFOL Network Events) or Signe Lønholdt (senior manager Community Growth / LEGO Ambassador Network). There are some other exciting events lined up at Fan Media Days that we will reveal at the time.

 

35 minutes ago, Gpack418 said:

1. Carwash.  I would love a modular carwash that would be a corner modular.  The car could enter one side and be on a curved track to exit the opposite corner.  The top level could be an apartment, or some kind of office.  This style can be more similar to the Downtown Diner with neon signs and typical American retro style.

What a novel idea, I don't believe I've even seen anyone attempt a modular creation of that sort of establishment, so it certainly would be a first! *  

* Has anyone seen such a creation around before? 

[Bricked1980]

33 minutes ago, Digger of Bricks said:

What a novel idea, I don't believe I've even seen anyone attempt a modular creation of that sort of establishment, so it certainly would be a first! *  

* Has anyone seen such a creation around before? 

I've found this MOC which features a corner modular with car wash.

There are more pics on Flickr...  https://www.flickr.com/photos/kevin8/sets/72157631301835298/

[Digger of Bricks]

5 minutes ago, Bricked1980 said:

I've found this MOC which features a corner modular with car wash.

Ah, so it has been done! Thanks a lot for finding that! 

[Fuppylodders]

I actually think a car dealership could be received well and done quite well too. With a lower floor being the showroom, minimal details/parts will be needed/used which can easily go into the car/2 cars. 

I  may actually try my hand at doing my first moc modular, in the style of DD for a car dealership 

I'm actually looking forward to it now! Haven't done anything in ages (years ) and I feel it'll be a good challenge.