Rauy

I already saw these on Flickr and they're absolutely amazing in their detail and accuracy. A really great project!

Possibly, but their combined weight would have sunk it, even if that wasn't made completely clear in the film. The advantage of the last 24 years is, that this has long been solved.

A really cool little project! It's awesome when LEGO models can serve to highlight historical incidents like that.

Various comments and articles are deducing to it something over 1.20 metres.

What a massive piece. Absolutely amazing, well done!

Thank you! I'm also working on two smaller versions currently, one of them basically an extension of the one from the skyline set.

I know it's just speculation anyway, but I'm not sure pinning it on the propeller really says too much about the scale of the model. While a certain degree of accuracy is to be expected from such a high class model, I wouldn't count it beyond possible for LEGO to have the propeller slightly out of scale to the rest of the model if it allows easy use of a piece and I wouldn't even put them at fault there. The propellers don't really seem such a hugely characteristic feature to me and I doubt many would notice if the propeller fits more to a 1.20m, 1m or 0.80m model. So even IF the propeller was confirmed, I don't think it'd say too much about the precise scale. Of course it would speak against a waterline model, but to be honest, I wouldn't expect much else than a full hull from a 9000 parts LEGO Titanic anyway.

Right in time for election day, I built an Architecture model of the Reichstag building in Berlin, Germany, the seat of the German parliament. Originally built by Paul Wallot in Neo-Renaissance style, after a tumultous history over the entire 20th century the building was fully renovated and modernized by Norman Foster in the 1990s to serve as meeting place for the reunified German parliament again. I wasn't quite sure about doing the building at first, but then I found a version in Creator Expert size, which was a great inspiration for doing one at about half the size. The scale of 1:600 worked itself out rather quickly, since I like to keep Architecture MOCs at 32x32 maximum and the SNOTed facades and towers fit rather well to this scale. I first tried to build the dome from SNOTed transparent slopes, but nothing really worked out satisfactorily. However, the 8x8 half-sphere was a perfect fit for the dome and allowed putting some pieces in for hinting at the walkways and the mirror array inside the real dome. It is a bit low in height with its 3 bricks. But the 5 bricks high one that exists too would have been to high. A 4 bricks high dome would probably be the best compromise, but that doesn't exist yet. When I had my design largely finished, I stumbled across another MOC at a similar scale and although I was rather satisfied with my own design and fortunately wasn't distracted by it too much, I found its use of light blue for the windows rather intriguing so I decided to switch the glass elements from trans-clear to trans-light-blue. I think it makes for a nice contrast to the old tan stonework and emphasizes the modernization of the building rather well. It also seems to give the dome a bit more volume. With all the windows, lighting the model was a natural choice. It is lit by 6 LEDs, 3 each along the longer eastern and western sides. The shorter sides are rather crammed, but since the supporting structure is mostly transparent and the lights are near the corners, the northern and southern sides are sufficiently lit, too. Only the dome doesn't glow as much as in reality since the plenary hall is only lit indirectly through the adjacent building wings. The base is open below the plenary hall and the power cable can be led out through the base on either side of the model. A big advantage of the hinged dome is also that it's openable quite easily. Together with a removable roof this allows a direct view into the plenary hall where we can see the Bundestag live at work. I also couldn't help but do an homage to Christo's wrapping of the entire building in 1995. The model has about 2400 pieces and was in the works for about 3 months, although I didn't work on it the entire time and it got put on hold for other things now and then. For more high-resolution pictures you can also check out the corresponding Flickr album. I tried to make the images link to Flickr directly but couldn't seem to get it working. There's also building instructions available on Rebrickable for the model.

Some really great work on these! You excellently captured the curves of the Marina Bay Sands and the Arch is amazing all around, too.

Interestingly that is what was done back in the day, when the series was separated into the Landmark (e.g. Brandenburg Gate, Big Ben,...) and Architect (e.g. Farnsworth House, Villa Savoye,...) lines. Although that separation wasn't advertized that hugely and it's not entirely clear by what rules it was governed, but you could see it being explained in the building instructions. I doubt it, though. I'm really not counting on LEGO reorienting back into the old philosophy of the series. If anything, I fear they'll rather continue making the models bigger and fusing it with the Creator Expert landmark line, given that the "Creator Expert" label is supposed to be phased out anyway. The old series was somewhat of a bold move and one of the earliest attempts to garner "serious" interest from dedicated "adults" (it was THE dedicated 18+ series you could say), but it was doing so by using a very specific target interest, sparked by Adam Reed Tucker's own passions. But while LEGO now realizes they have an adult home deco market and are squeezing it as much as they can, I think they also know that the mainstream appeal of tourist attractions beats the niche market of architecture afficionados by far. Today's adults largely want clever building techniques and icons they recognize, be those the beloved 80s pop-culture heroes they grew up with or the beautiful buildings they visited (or want to visit some day) in their holidays. One of my top priorities for any possible US trip in the future would certainly be Fallingwater, but I doubt many people even know what that is. Which isn't to say they're wrong, simply that it's a niche interest. And I don't think LEGO is doing niche too much today. Fortunately, I also enjoy a beautiful Taj Mahal or a neat little skyline that doesn't cost 100€. But whishing for the likes of Niemeyer and Wright to make a reappearance in this series is only going to lead to disappointments.

Yeah, I heard about the Habitat '67 rumour, too, and that would have been amazing. I also saw photos of a model on it at some point, but that might as well have been a MOC, although it was stylized as a set. Yes, and I agree that was a great remake that really added something new, as was the Guggenheim and the Burj Khalifa (although, the old landmark models have their own charm too). The White House was probably the least necessary remake to me, as I don't think it added much (albeit still being a beautiful model, of course, but which isn't?). I do, however, not necessarily need the models to get all too much bigger. The Empire State is kind of at the top end for me, both in parts count and size, for the Architecture series and I can't see the Effeil Tower to be built that much different without making it huge (though, I might get surprised). But I agree that other buildings might be a good target, like the Sydney Opera, where there's still quite a lot of room between the small one we have and the huge Expert model. But other models, like Willis or Hancock Tower are rather unlikely to be remade since they just don't fall into the new Architecture product policy anymore, which I doubt will ever change much. The days of models of genuine architectural interest are simply over and I don't think they are likely to ever come back. Oh, definitely! That policy is a huge thorn in my side. I would love to see some great sacred architecture as LEGO sets. I can understand that LEGO wants to avoid that minefield. But as an 18+ series one might also expect the company and its customers to be able to appreciate churches and temples as artefacts of cutlural heritage without endorsing religions. It doesn't need to be a model of Hagia Sophia right away.

Though, I really don't need remakes either. I appreciate the ones we got in the past (except for the White House maybe), but I'd prefer new models, including skylines, over remakes any day. And if there's anything I really don't want a remake of, it'd be the Eiffel Tower. I don't even have a problem with Architecture doing tourist attractions, but I personally find the Eiffel Tower a bit overrated as a sight and building. It's just beaten to death everywhere. And there's not too many different ways to build it at a reasonable size, which can be seen by the extreme similarity between the stand-alone model and the skyline version. They're pretty much using the same building techinques. Whereas when you compare the Burj Khalifa versions or the Empire States, you can see a lot more variety in the different models. Though, the chances aren't too low for LEGO to actually remake it at some point, mostly because it's a very safe choice.

I really doubt we'll ever get an Architecture set from IDEAS, though. There have indeed been some really good submissions that even reached the review phase, but they obviously clash with LEGO's own product line and I can't imagine them ever being greenlit. It's a bit like with modular buildings that also often reach the review phase: it's pretty clear they won't make it through the manual review. I can't really blame people for submitting them, let alone voting for them if they're great. But realistically there's not much of a point to it with regards to getting an actual IDEAS set out of them. As to new skylines (or any other set). I don't have high hopes for anything more this year. It would be great, but right now it doesn't quite look like it. I do hope they'll at least start right in January again, though. Wow, yes! That's indeed great that they're included in the model.

I can't really imagine licensing costs to play a huge role in Architecture pricing. At the end of the day I guess it is merely a question of mainstream appeal. A famous tourist attraction that really anyone around the world immediately recognizes, probably promises a lot more sales. Of course I don't know if more original architecture would sell worse or if there really are licensing negotiations, but it's a good guess and that's probably what LEGO goes after. I'm not saying LEGO should look only on profit and nothing else, but let's face it... It is like with a lot of things in life. Similarly you could ask why Hollywood is doing the same remakes over and over. I know people tend to complain about building fun in Architecture, but I honestly don't mind and usually find these fun to build. Yes, laying 1x1 tiles is probably the least exciting, I would agree with that. But all the better is the feeling of success when it's done. (And with some easy aligning tool it's also not that terrible.) I also honestly think I would enjoy building the big Taj Mahal, that everyone claims to be THE nightmare of building. Like in real Architecture there can be repetition and drag, but it's part of the experience and it only adds to the accomplishment of the final building.

No, I like it too. It looks great, fits nicely into the landmarks series, and I prefer an Architecture-sized model over the huge one.

Hello, my name is Christian Rau and I'm from Germany. After having been a happy LEGO customer for almost the entire 90s, I didn't get back into LEGO until the end of 2019 and it was primarily the great Architecture series that dragged me back in. I have been following it for quite some time, but didn't really start getting serious about LEGO again until something triggered me to sort and catalogue all my old LEGO and start buying new stuff. I have since also caught up on (almost) all the Architecture sets and all the Creator Expert vehicles, which are my two primary collecting interests. I also get me the occasional IDEAS sets and I'm a big fan of Creator 3-in-1, too, also because it has really nice part-out-value. I also started MOCing last year, first with familiar things, like my own apartment, but also other little things, like mini versions of the Creator Expert cars. I'm a huge fan of micro and nano-scale and architecture specifically and because I generally work in the field of building survey and heritage preservation (though, as a mere software developer), I started making Architecture MOCs of buildings that my company worked on, some better known than others. I enjoy this a lot and since I like my workplace a lot, I find this a great and wholesome way to combine my hobby with my work (that sounds a bit cheesy, but it's the way I feel). And it also gives me the opportunity to put my MOCs in my office, where there's still mor room than in my appartment. A lot of my MOCs have instructions on Rebrickable and I also got me a Flickr account not too long ago. I'm still starting with my steps in the wider LEGO community.

Wow, desperate for Architecture news I've read up on this thread and it's interesting to see this discussion. And just as I was to post a piece of mind about the lack of information, suddenly we got actual news! But like many, I'm not entirely sure what to think about it yet. While I understand the general complaints about the series's direction and would also appreciate some more emphasis on architecture again, I think that train has left and I personally don't have too much of a problem with the more tourist-oriented sets nowadays. I also like the Skyline series a lot. I was dissappointed a little last year. I think the skylines were good (not perfect maybe, but solid skylines). But while the White House of course looks great, I think it was an unnecessary remake. The old Adam Reed Tucker model to me still holds up with newer sets and the remake didn't really add as much as e.g. the Empire State or Guggenheim remakes, except for a bit more SNOT and some side wings. Someone brought up the Forbidden City as a possible topic for the new one and I would have appreciate that a lot, too. I'm a bit torn on this one. We didn't have a Taj Mahal in the Architecture series so far and I think it's generally a good choice (as I said, the times we got Wright and Le Corbusier here are over and I can live with that). I would also have really liked the Collosseum as a smaller Architecture version instead of this 2 million parts monster. But still, while I don't have a big problem with the fact that we already have the huge version (which I don't currently own anyway), I do agree it also kind of feels a little bit like a cheap move, especially considering that it so far seems to be the only set this year. I'm also not the biggest fan of the Architecture sets getting bigger and bigger, since I think the series lives from its small scale and easy collectibility. The White House also was rather the top end of the size spectrum, I think. However, judging from the box, the size seems okay for an Architecture set and I guess a lot of the pieces go into details. For these 2000 pieces the price is also okay and Architecture is generally worth its price and bargained anyway. All in all, I'm first and foremost happy we even got news and I think the set itself looks great. But I also can't shake the strange by-taste all this remakery and size increasery comes with. It really bothers me a little that we haven't gotten anything this year so far except for a single set that's not even entirely original. I didn't know that they blamed the Collosseum for that (but I'm also not quite sure I really buy that). With their recent 18+ PR mumbojumbo, it's a bit sad that THE classic 18+ series seems to be neglected currently. But I guess in the end I'm first and foremost looking forward to the set and hoping the best for the rest of the series.