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Hello, and welcome to my review of the brand new Architecture Studio set, 21050 Create Your Own Architecture. First of all, I would like to thank The LEGO Group and all of those who are involved on Eurobricks who've made this review possible. This is a very exclusive set that has just been released in the United States (and is rumored to appear worldwide soon), and I'm sure many are curious to know the details. Well look no further, because this review will investigate this new set in-depth. Read on! Set: 21050 Create Your Own Architecture Theme: Architecture (Studio) Pieces: 1210 Minifigures: 0 Price: $149.99 USD Brickset Bricklink Catalog The Box The first thing to notice about this set is that the box is HUGE. Unlike most boxes, this one has square sides, which make it larger depth-wise. It is also sizable length- and height-wise. A few other things to note are the relatively large piece count and the age. 16+ years is the oldest recommended age I've seen on a set box, so that might hint at the nature of the set. However, the contents prove to be a mystery; I wasn't sure what to expect when the set first arrived. This may also be the case for the casual customer who would only glance at the box on the shelf in the store. The back of the box is much more helpful in determining what this set is all about, and provides a description as well as pictures. The lack of focus on the actual pieces or builds of the set may be of some interest here. Aha, so this is no traditional LEGO set. In reality, it's more of a beginners guide to Architecture and LEGO, which I will touch on more later in this review. This set can be compared to LEGO parts buckets, in that no real set design is given, but creativity and building your own creations with the parts given is encouraged. Here's a shot of the box from an angle, showing the proportions. Have I mentioned that it's huge? The top and bottom of the box depict inspirational models and production information. I'd like to highlight the note on the bottom of the set for a moment. The inspiration is all well and good, and encourages builders to combine these parts with the rest of their collection, but I find it a bit of a letdown to not be able to build these models with the pieces given. This occurs several other times in the process of exploring this set. The sides of the box show the parts listing (which is fairly uncommon in my experience) as well as all of the contents spilled out and sorted. Opening the box was a bit of a challenge since there were no punch-holes or flaps. The only way to open it would be to rip the cardboard partially, which is what I had to do. I imagine the reason for this design would be to prevent theft, but the box would have been nice for storage because of its shape and volume. The Contents: Moving on to the actual contents of this set, the first thing to slide out is a pair of clear sorting trays, which will be used to hold some of the parts. I'm not sure if these are new, but they sure are neat, and would be helpful for sorting parts of any collection. The plastic tray is also an "official" LEGO part, so I challenge MOCers to incorporate it somehow into their creations. Next up is a small double-sided slip of paper advertising a survey that allows entry for a raffle for the Fransworth House set. Both sides are the same except for the language. These things were used to protect the contents from getting damaged in the box, but they can also be used for holding pieces. Innovative! Next come the bags of parts, and there are a lot of them. I'll go into more detail later on. And finally, the true focus of the set: the booklet. It comes in a protective cardboard case that, like the other cardboard trays, doubles as a place to put parts. The Pieces: Before we head into the booklet, I would like to show the pieces included with the set. As I'm sure you've noticed, the pieces are mostly all white - only a few trans-clear parts mix it up. This has its pros and cons. On one hand, the monochromatic parts selection is simple and easy to use. Since the focus of this set is to serve as an introduction to architectural techniques used with LEGO parts, this allows builders to explore the techniques discussed in the book and design things with ease and without much distraction. This set also makes for a good source of white parts in bulk. On the other hand, having all white pieces is very bland and is extremely limiting for some tasks. Here's the first half of the pieces organized by type into the provided trays. Larger 2xX bricks are left loose since there was no room to put them; another tray might have been nice, but the set box itself can also hold pieces if needed. As you can see from this picture, there are healthy portions of all types of pieces, even if the selection is monochromatic. And here are the cardboard trays filled with 1xX bricks, slopes, and plates. Again, there is a wide variety of pieces, and each piece type comes in a large quantity which is extremely helpful for building. There aren't any rare or unusual parts, but plenty of basic and universally "useful" ones. It seems this set leans more towards basic building where a lack of parts rarely becomes an issue. I think that's a plus if this set is considered to be a beginner's guide to architecture and LEGO. Click here for a complete parts listing. Let's move on to the main focus of the set, the book. The Book: For those who were expecting a simple instruction booklet (myself included) are in for a pleasant surprise. The focal point of 21050 is in fact this hefty 272-page book with tons of information held inside. So, what's inside, exactly? Basically, the book features many techniques, tips, and tricks for using LEGO as a medium to design architecture. Real buildings and other examples of architecture are featured, and renowned architects share their wisdom on some of the knowledge involved in the profession itself. Moreover, the focus is using LEGO as the medium (versus drawing, rendering, or some other method of sharing ideas on architecture). The set as a whole can viewed as a bridge for young builds and Fans of LEGO who have an interest in pursuing architecture as a career. We already know that our favorite interlocking bricks can spark an interest in such things even from a very young age, and with the new Architecture Studio line that idea will be reinforced and encouraged by TLG. Or at least, that seems to be the goal of this first Studios set. Back to the book itself, the spine reveals the impressive thickness of the book. There's no deception involved, either: the book is chock full of information and images. Let's take a look. The two-page index gives an overview of what will be featured. There's a variety of different areas explored as well, from techniques to real-world architectural workshops and projects. The actual method in which architects design, propose, and follow through with their ideas is also explained, as are aspects of building to consider (such as space, mass, density, visual appeal, etc.). There are even a few pages in the back for taking notes and drawing sketches. Now, let's look at some pages. As you can see from this snapshot, there is a good balance of visuals and text for the most effective appeal to readers. Also seen on this page, there are constant connections between LEGO and actual architecture. The official Fallingwater set is featured here. This page shows some brainstorming techniques used by architects, and how that process can be transformed with LEGO. As mentioned previously, there are sections in this book that will require pieces not included in the set. This particular page focuses on the use of color to distinguish separate parts of a building. However, this technique cannot be practiced with this set as there are only white pieces included. While the typical FOL should have the parts necessary to something as simple as this, it is still slightly annoying to not be able to do the techniques with the set they were intended for. Some of the wordier pages are broken up by stunning visuals such as on these pages. The model featured can actually be built with the parts included in the set, and the illustration is indeed very inspirational. Creativity and "thinking outside the box" are really hit home within this book. Remember when just a few bricks could represent a car to a child? The same imaginative qualities are encouraged here. Throughout the book, architectural techniques and strategies are demonstrated through the use of LEGO bricks, and most of the time the demonstrations are able to be copied by the builder with the provided parts. The directions given for shown models aren't so much instructions (as seen in traditional LEGO set booklets), but rather guidelines to instigate deeper thought into designing with LEGO parts and to spark creativity. In other words, the models shown in the book aren't meant to be followed to the T and recreated perfectly by the builder; they're meant to exemplify architectural strategies translated into LEGO. Conclusion: As a beginner's guide to using LEGO as a medium for communicating architectural design, this set is excellent for those interested in such things. The set's focus seems to be on teen-aged builders with an interest in pursuing architecture as a career, but AFOLs may be interested as well. Younger builders will probably pass this one up in favor of themed, traditional sets. 21050 also makes for a good parts pack, but buying the set solely for that reason might be unwise financially since all of the parts are common and can probably be bought cheaper from Bricklink. As mentioned earlier in the review, the book is chock full of information and is presented well. All of the tips and tricks are interesting and cohesive, and the concepts discussed are easy to grasp even for beginners of architecture. I'd recommend this set to anyone with even the slightest interest in architecture, which I imagine includes many AFOLs and TFOLs because of the ties between the study and the hobby of building with LEGO. This set is the embodiment of those similarities that teaches at a basic level, and promotes creativity. 21050 may not necessarily make you want to study architecture as a profession (although it can certainly reinforce the desire, especially in TFOLs), but at the very least it offers plenty of useful parts as well as tips that can even improve your MOCing skills. Here are the ratings and rundown of the set. Build/Design: N/A (There are no official builds for this set; instead the builder's own creativity using the tips from the book guide is encouraged.) Playability: 9/10 (The book offers hours of reading of strategies and techniques used by real architects, and translates them for use with LEGO pieces. The parts provided can perform most of the examples, and can otherwise demonstrate the techniques in hundreds of ways. By no means traditional, this set acts as more of a guide for beginning builders and/or architects.) Minifugres: N/A Parts: 8/10 (Plenty of basic, useful parts in bulk are provided. The only downside is that the selection is limited to mostly white pieces with a few trans-clear ones to mix it up. This flaw becomes especially apparent when the book calls for pieces not included in the set to demonstrate an architectural technique.) Price: 10/10 (Considering the main focus of this set is the 272-page beginner's guide, the value of the 1210 basic pieces is pretty balanced with the price. Not to mention the very useful sorting trays included. The set isn't for everyone, but for those are interested in all it has to offer, it's a pretty nice deal.) Final Score: 27/30. It was hard to quantify the ratings for such an nontraditional set, but I would say it earns top marks. There doesn't seem to be anything majorly lacking in any area. My main gripe with the set has to do with the limits placed on color selection, but I suppose including more colors while keeping the large quantities of parts would only increase the price. As it is, 21050 makes for an excellent beginner's guide to architecture and LEGO. --- ...And that about wraps this review up, thanks for reading! Feel free to leave a comment below discussing this set. If you're interested in making professional-looking reviews, please consider signing up for the Reviewers Academy.
