My LEGO®-related Rambles
Darktanyon House is the Student Union building for Micropolis University, situated in the heart of the campus.
The bottom two floors house a subsidised bar, social space and Union offices, while the upper levels provide more accommodation for the students in the main block and two angled side wings.
Those students lucky enough to get a room in this hall of residence are never far away from a party!
My latest Micropolis build, called The Wave, is a pair of halls of residence for new students at Micropolis University. Each floor has several rooms set around a communal kitchen an living space, to give the students a welcoming home from home feel.
Originally the two blocks were both facing in the same direction but this made the build look a bit boring, so I turned the larger block through 90 degrees so that its “wave” is crashing in another direction.
The underside of the cantilevered structures have been landscaped to give a sheltered space for outdoor events – and probably a few raucous student parties, no doubt.
There’s a bit of a craze going around at the moment for gravity-defying Tensegrity models. It has now reached the LEGO corner of the internet, and a few days ago Jason Allemann shared a video on how to make one – so I decided to have a go with a selection of rainbow-coloured bricks at my disposal.
Unfortunately, this wasn’t good enough for my friends in the London AFOLs who goaded me into making a Micropolis version – so here is Tensegrity Heights!
It is a top secret research facility, part of Micropolis University, where the boffins are looking into anti-gravity and other such magic. Of course, being such an iconic building, it’s the worst-kept secret in the city, but the staff are blissfully unaware they have been sussed.
A few days later, Beyond The Brick decided to collect a selection of the best LEGO Tensegrity models in this compilation, and I was delighted to be asked if I would contribute (a short clip appears at 2’08”)
I recently acquired a number of the fancy 1×2 bricks with wing end in pearl gold from a local Pick A Brick wall, and decided to see if I could use them as decoration for a Micropolis build. Along with the 10×10 Octagonal plate which I thought would make a good roof, the shape of this building began to emerge. The walls are held together with hinge plates and feature Gothic-style arched windows on six of the sides. Two imposing oak doors fill the remaining opposite sides, providing access to the Octagonal Reading Room of Micropolis University.
The Glasshouse was inspired by acquring a few hundred 1×1 round bricks from a recent Pick A Brick haul. I also thought I could use the 8×8 dish piece for the roof, which has been kicking around in my parts drawers for months. Inside is a tropical greenhouse where the botanists of Micropolis University are cultivating some rare specimens. Unlike the Hothouse in Compass Park, this building is not open to the public, but is reserved purely for academic research.
We are heading back to Micropolis University for the next video. Here you can see the Humanities, Arts and Law Faculty buildings, sitting on a half block baseplate around a landscaped courtyard.