Lego's Latest Lets You Play Architect

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Lego Studio

It seems like it took Lego an unnaturally long time to realize the potential of its miniature building blocks to replicate famous buildings. But in 2010 the company got its act together and started releasing its Lego Architecture series. It's running through the greats, including the Empire State Building and Frank Lloyd Wright's Fallingwater. But the one element missing was a creative one: You could make models of these things but once you did they were done. Architecture Studio, the newest addition to the Lego Architecture line, solves that.

For $150 you basically get a kit full of 1,200 all-white slopes, planes, blocks, and windows, accompanied not by instructions but, as Cool Hunting describes it, "a 250-page book of Lego experiments conceived by the leading contemporary architecture firms like SOM, REX and Sou Fujimoto." Not bad. You can get a full rundown of what's in the box and how it works over at The Brick Blogger. And Architizer has a preview of that book of concepts.

Lego Sample

Anyway, I'm not really in the business of reviewing toys but this one is right up our street. Worth filing away for the holidays. And seriously, if anybody buids an Eichler, Streng, Alexander, or any other mid-century modern home out of Legos, send me a photo so I can run it here.

Meanwhile, here's a 20-minute(!) video of someone fiddling around with this new set. Skip to the last third or so to see some of the completed projects.