Little Coloured Bricks

Almost 10 years ago, an American author, artist, and atheist, began a web project called The Brick Testament. The said project is a selection of Bible stories told through photographs of dioramas made from Lego blocks. When it first came out, it featured six narratives from the book of Genesis and since then, The Brick Testament has covered more than 400 stories using more than 4000 images. A hardbound book version of the web project has also been released. Both the web project and the books were made available to the public for the use of churches and anti-church groups making the Brick Testament a rather popular Lego diorama.

The narration of the stories is basically straightforward, although its creator did give a little more attention to the elements in the story that contain sex, destruction, and violence. However, the images frequently make a piercingly ironic comment on the words, especially on passages that are instructional.

For instance, the photographs used to tell the Ten Commandments oddly choose to put at the forefront the primary capital nature of the transgressions as shown in the scene. One glaring example is the command to not put up with fake prophets is put side by side with sights of the Jews appropriating the passage to Jesus.

The photographs in The Brick Testament are those of dioramas made from the creator’s own collection of Legos. In some of the cases where modifications are done to the Lego pieces, the adjustments are just simple alterations created with markers and hobby knives. An example of these modifications is God’s hair which the creator of the Brick Testament made by carving a white Lego helmet piece. The only entirely non-Lego element in the dioramas is the sky in the background. The artist also sometimes added speech balloons and edited the photographs using image editing computer programs like Paint Shop Pro or Adobe Photoshop.

Lego Architecture is a line of construction toys manufactured by the Lego Group that aspires to commemorate the history and future of architecture through the use of Lego bricks. This product involves Lego sets that are designed by Adam Reed Tucker, an‘Architectural Artist’. Each set contains the blocks needed to construct a model of a famous building and instructions on how to build it.

Adam Reed Tucker has an architecture degree from the Kansas State University and while studying there, he tried to find a way on how to combine his two passions in life: art and architecture. He was finally able to do this by using Lego blocks to build architectural models. From there, he established Brickstructures, Inc. and started designing and building Lego models of famous structures. His works were then discovered by the Lego Group and the two forged a collaboration to make some of his models available to the public. These Lego sets were released under the brand that came to be known as Lego Architecture.

Since then, six sets have been manufactured for the line under two categories: the Landmark Series and the Architect Series. Included in the Landmark Series are small-scale versions of the Sears Tower and John Hancock Center of Chicago, the Empire State Building of New York, and the Seattle Space Needle, while included the Architect Series are Lego representations of the Guggenheim Museum by Frank Gehry and the Fallingwater by Frank Lloyd Wright. A new series is in the works and it will be known as the Discovery Series.

The Lego Architecture line has received favorable reviews by many critics. Although the scale of the models in Lego Architecture kits are small and the details are not that fine, it is still a great way to honor the world’s greatest architects and their designs.

Legoland has its own Barrack Obama inauguration. The US President, although facing a lot of trouble in his first year, the rather detailed creation should pacify some of the emotions brewing in the US today. This beautiful creation using Lego bricks is one of the best and it is complete with an Obama minifig along with his wife Michelle, and one of the most popular singers in the US –Aretha Franklin. All the people who attended the inauguration are also depicted in this creation –making it very realistic when seen from afar.

Even the queue to the loo is depicted in this work of art and since there were a lot of people who attended the 44^th President’s inauguration –the event more of like a celebration for all Americans at the time.

The politics with what is happening to the Obama administration now is also happening in Lego Capitol Hill though and many have mixed emotions about the Lego Obama as well.

The Obama Administration may be having lots of problems these days but no one can deny that these creations are just too cute not to ogle on. To look at the bright side, Lego creations sure do make things a lot lighter.

Just look at the queue at the portable toilets, isn’t this image amazing? Another really cool part of this creation is the Aretha Franklin minifig. Her presence during the inauguration may be one of the most memorable parts of the program.

Her rather rousing performance of “My Country ‘Tis of Thee” is one of the best performances of the 66 year old legend. Aretha Franklin is one of the best songstresses in the history of the world. Although her minifig is not accurate, the depiction is still as historical as the inauguration itself because Obama’s inauguration has been immortalized through these Danish bricks.

All the important people in Washington, D.C. were at the inauguration -Laura Bush and the 43rd President of the United State George W. Bush were of course in attendance.

Former US President Bill Clinton and his wife Hillary Clinton were also there and they were seated beside George, Sr. and Mrs. Barbara Bush.

Pop-pa-pa-ra-ram…pop-pa-pa-ra-ram…Start spreading the news…

If that is what you are currently singing, then maybe it is time to go to New York, New York.

Formerly called Gotham, New York City is home to a diverse population -the sights and sounds of NYC is one of a kind.  And like Vienna and other major cities in the world, New York City has its very own Lego version.

Lego New York creations include the infamous New York taxis, the tall skyscrapers, and of course the Statue of Liberty. Lego New Yorkers love it in Lego NYC because it’s always alive, from early morning to the wee hours. The nightlife in the city is a combustion and fusion of different cultures, new cocktails in the posh bars each week and of course delectable international favorites from its high end restaurants. For Lego minifigs who do not want to eat out, ordering Chinese food is an option.

There are also many accommodation places in Lego NY, so tourists do not have to worry on where to stay when visiting the Big Apple. For minifigs who want to make sure they enjoy their Lego NY visit, do not forget to ride the Staten Island Ferry, this is a good way to get some air and just enjoy the sights.

Many Lego minifigs from all over Legoland want to go to Lego NYC because as Frank Sinatra crooned years ago “…if you’ll make it there…you’ll make it anywhere..” One of the best photos taken from Lego NY is the fireman trying to get a cat to come down from a tree with New York traffic in the background. Isn’t that cute? Another photo of the Lego urban center depicts a busy Lego NY street. There are lots of people walking and if you look up, there are so many billboards.

Lego New York City is much like the real NYC, it has busy streets, has lots of people and is very much alive from day to night.

Making aircraft designs out of Lego blocks has its own distinctive challenges. Because the models are basically based upon real aircraft archetypes, recreating them using Lego can test the limit of a builder’s imagination and creativity. Furthermore, most aircraft designs have multi-directional curvatures that can be very difficult to rebuild through solid blocks. For these reasons, it is extremely interesting to look at some of the best Lego aircraft designs ever made.

One of these is a model of a McDonell Douglas DC-3, an American aircraft with fixed wings and driven by propellers. The DC-3 is considered as one of the most important transport aircraft ever developed. The Lego model for this was created by Klaus Dobisch. Dobisch has been making exceptional Lego aircraft for many years now and his awareness to the smallest of details is remarkable. Making sure that his aircraft designs are as smooth as possible, is one of the things that make him one of the four best Lego aircraft builders today.

Other Lego aircraft models that are considered to be some of the best are a Japanese army fighter Nakajima KI-84 Type 4 by a builder called Hien and a US Navy E-2C Hawkeye by Ralph Savelsberg. Although Hien has not yet produced as many aircraft models as Dobisch, the accuracy of his models are just the same. As for Savelsberg, he works really hard to get every angle of his models perfect. And like every Lego aircraft builder, the KI-84 and E-2C models tell a lot about the incredible talent of their builders.

Another one of the best Lego aircraft designs ever made is a Lockheed P-38 Lightning, an American fighter aircraft used during World War II. Its model designer is Mike Psiaki. Because of his skill to impeccably incorporate a number of different techniques in one model, Psiaki is able to provide wonderful and original designs that can give other builders inspiration for their own aircraft models.