Architecture in Lego
Architecture in Lego is the use of the plastic building block, the piece that snaps to a 1 by 1 stud grid, to build a model of a real building, and it is the form of architecture that teaches the structure of a building by the way the pieces connect. The grid of the block, where every element is a multiple of the same small unit, is the same logic that a modular building uses, and a set of blocks is a model of that logic at a scale that fits in a hand. This page covers the notable model sets, the study of buildings they make possible, and what the block reveals about structure.
The notable architecture model sets
The notable architecture model sets in Lego are the building sets that are sold to model a real building, and they are the bridge between the toy and the discipline of architecture. The line of sets that models famous buildings puts a recognizable structure, such as a cathedral or a tower, into a box of a few thousand pieces, and the model of the building is assembled from the same grid that the other sets use. The scale is not fixed to one, because the block is a system and the scale is a choice the builder makes, so the same tower can be built small enough for a desk or large enough for a room. The model set is the entry to the study of the building, because the person who assembles it is drawing the building with the hands, and the structure of the building is the instruction the set follows. The Building information modeling page of this site is the digital version of the same model, and the block is the physical one.
The scale and the count of a model
The scale and the count of a model in Lego architecture are the 2 numbers that define it, and they are the first things a builder sets before the first piece is placed. The scale is the ratio of the model to the building, and the count is the number of pieces it takes, and the 2 are linked, because a larger scale of the building needs more pieces and a larger base. A model of a house at a small scale may take a few hundred pieces, while a model of a cathedral at a larger scale takes several thousand, and the base plate, the flat board the model sits on, is sized to the footprint of the building. The discipline of architecture is the design of that scale, because the model that is too small loses the detail of the structure and the model that is too large needs a room of its own, and the count of the pieces is the measure of the size of the building the model is meant to hold. The set of a building is a study of the building at a chosen scale, and the scale is the decision that the discipline of architecture makes first.
| Model of the building | Typical piece count | Scale the builder chooses |
|---|---|---|
| A small house | about 200 pieces | the desk scale, a hand wide |
| A row of town buildings | about 800 pieces | the shelf scale, a few hands wide |
| A tower | about 1500 pieces | the room scale, a hand high or more |
| A cathedral or landmark | 3000 pieces or more | the room scale, base plate sized to the footprint |
The 200 to 3000 range in the table is the working range of a model, and the 800 and 1500 counts in the middle of it are where most of the building sets sit, because the middle scale is the one that fits a shelf and still keeps the structure of the building visible. This page is a plain-language reference to the practice of choosing that scale, and it reads the model the way a builder reads it, by the count of the pieces and the size of the base.
How the model teaches the structure
How the model teaches the structure in Lego architecture is that the block makes the logic of the building visible, and the logic is the unit, the load and the connection. Every block is a unit of the same size, and the building is a count of them, so the scale of the structure is read in the number of pieces. The load travels through the connection, where one block snaps on the stud of the one below it, and the strength of a wall is the number of the connections in it, which is the same idea that a brick wall carries from the block to the ground. The model of a building teaches that a structure is a system of units under a load, and the discipline of architecture is the design of that system at the scale of a building. The AI in architecture page of this site is where the same model is generated by a machine, and the block is where it is built by a hand.
What the block reveals about the building
What the block reveals about the building in Lego architecture is that a building is a modular structure, and the module is the idea that makes a building buildable. The grid of the block is the grid of the building, where the floor, the wall and the roof are all on the same module, and the modular building that the discipline of architecture draws today is the same logic the block uses at a small scale. The reveal is that the complexity of a building comes from the repetition of a simple unit, not from a complicated piece, and the set that builds a cathedral from 1 small block is the proof of it. The model is the study of the building at the scale of a hand, and the structure of the building is the same whether it is made of block or of concrete. The Building materials and technology section of this site is where the module of the block becomes the material of the building, and the block is the model that the building is built to match.