Tuesday, September 27, 2011

NY in miniature

While in NY this past weekend, I had to run an errand with friends at a Toys R Us and had a pleasant surprise; famous NY buildings in minature built of my favorite childhood toy, legos! The scale of the buildings was dead on and it was amazing how no detail was overlooked with the little bricks.

I loved the context of the buildings next to one another, the Statue of Liberty next to the Empire State Building.


The beloved Chrysler Building was also included.Even King Kong wasn't forgotten on the top of the Empire State Building!It was interesting to see Phillip Johnson's Lipstick Building at such a small scale but maybe a smooth curved building facade isn't the best out of clunky legos?



If you're in NY and find yourself near Times Square (AKA tourist h*ll), stop in Toys R Us at 1514 Broadway to see the sites (or at least stop by candyland for some treats!)
at

14 comments:

  1. Nadia PalaciosSeptember 27, 2011 at 9:27 AM

    Impressively detailed! Legos were my favorite too, I think every architect had at least one set when they were children, I know I did!

    ReplyDelete
  2. ilduceSeptember 27, 2011 at 11:27 AM

    Ye Gods! I STILL play with my Legos!

    ReplyDelete
  3. The Devoted ClassicistSeptember 27, 2011 at 12:04 PM

    Impressive! Perhaps it is closed-minded of me, but I would not have included the "Lipstick" building in this category, especially since it did not lend itself to Lego construction. But I am otherwise a fan of Phillip (what a character) Johnson's work .

    ReplyDelete
  4. ArchitectDesign™September 27, 2011 at 12:10 PM

    Polia -I spent all of my spare money on legos -i had thousands! LOL
    Ilduce - I keep thinking maybe I should bring some back home whenever I visit my parents! What a fun way to spend a rainy afternoon.
    Classicist - It was an odd choice as you say! I do love Phillip too though.

    ReplyDelete
  5. ToddSeptember 27, 2011 at 1:26 PM

    WOW! So this is what you were talking about, very cool! The Chrysler Building is one of my favorites. There is a Lalique barware collection (Bourgueil) that was inspired by the chrysler building, it's one of the only Lalique patterns I like.

    ReplyDelete
  6. ArchitectDesign™September 27, 2011 at 1:29 PM

    Todd -ya, I'm not a huge lalique fan myself. Prefer William Yeoward or baccarut myself. Ralph Lauren is pretty good too ;-)

    ReplyDelete
  7. David TomsSeptember 27, 2011 at 8:32 PM

    Love Lego and love New York, so this presses all my buttons

    ReplyDelete
  8. Mark D. RuffnerSeptember 27, 2011 at 9:36 PM

    A delightful posting, Stefan. I find the next-to-last photo interesting for the angle and that sepia background (of store levels, I suppose). It could be a great René Magritte painting.

    ReplyDelete
  9. Slim PaleySeptember 28, 2011 at 12:15 AM

    These are amazing!

    ReplyDelete
  10. pve designSeptember 28, 2011 at 6:18 AM

    I love the way you always are thinking of structures and building. If I were with you, I would follow you around sketching - You inspire me to sketch more buildings.
    My son played with legos all the time and as much as I hated them strewn all over his room....now with him in college, I wish I had them there to remember how passionate he was about building and making things move. He is studying Mechanical Engineering. He made a lego motorcycle, a car and many things with wheels. We are who we are.
    pve

    ReplyDelete
  11. Michael HamptonSeptember 28, 2011 at 10:05 AM

    Amazing!!! Why couldn't I have had that lego set when I was a kid. Come to think of it I want it now!

    ReplyDelete
  12. Kim SchuesslerSeptember 28, 2011 at 1:54 PM

    Beautiful park.

    ReplyDelete
  13. AnonymousOctober 1, 2011 at 5:51 PM

    WOW!! My children used to 'Lego' and I remember stepping on them in bare feet in the middle of the night!!
    Stefan, those buildings are amazing!!
    This is obviously a grown child's set.

    ReplyDelete
  14. katiedidOctober 3, 2011 at 5:43 PM

    WOW! Some of these are truly amazing. So much fun!

    ReplyDelete

Thank you so much for leaving a comment and being a part of the dialogue here at ArchitectDesign! Unfortunately I no longer will allow anonymous commenting due to the amount of SPAM. I value your comments!