LEGO Modernist Architecture: Farnsworth House Model

LEGO Modern Architecture, Brick Building Project News, US Mies van der Rohe Design, Property

LEGO Modernist Architecture : LEGO® bricks

LEGO Modernist Architecture Designs – Farnsworth House Model, design by Mies van der Rohe Architect

5 Apr 2011

Modernist architectural icon immortalised in LEGO® bricks

LEGO Architecture Farnsworth House Model:
LEGO Modernist Architecture: Farnsworth House Model
image of the Farnsworth House LEGO Model from LEGO Architecture

LEGO Architecture

Copenhagen, Denmark – Bauhaus director and modernist Mies van der Rohe is the latest architect to have his works immortalised in LEGO® bricks.

Mies van der Rohe’s modernist masterpiece Farnsworth House™ will join the LEGO Architecture product line that celebrates the past, present and future of architecture through the LEGO brick.

Farnsworth House – LEGO Modernist Architecture model:
Farnsworth House - LEGO Modernist Architecture
image © gm+ad architects

LEGO Architecture is a collaboration between the LEGO Group and Chicago architect Adam Reed Tucker. It started as a pilot of 200 boxes in 2007. In 2010, international distribution started through LEGO online stores, brand retail stores and in a growing number of outlets around the world.

“We are proud to introduce Mies van der Rohe’s Farnsworth House, a new chapter in architectural history for LEGO Architecture. Our main job has been to capture the essence of this iconic design with our own celebrated icon, the LEGO Brick. We hope the model and the story behind the building will be an inspiration to kids and adults around the world” said Paal Smith-Meyer, Head of New Business at the LEGO Group.

LEGO Architecture Farnsworth House Model:
Farnsworth House Model - LEGO Modernist Architecture
picture of the Farnsworth House LEGO Model received from LEGO Architecture

“The Farnsworth House is one of the most celebrated and iconic symbols of Modern architecture and the National Trust for Historic Preservation in the U.S. is delighted to partner with the LEGO Group to offer this extraordinary structure as part of the LEGO Architecture Series,” said Whitney French, Executive Director of the Farnsworth House, a National Trust Historic Site.

The Farnsworth House is located in Plano, Illinois, just outside Chicago. It was designed and constructed between 1945 and 1951 as a one-room weekend retreat for Dr. Edith Farnsworth, a prominent Chicago physician. Today, the house is a pilgrimage site for architects and designers world-wide, owned and operated by the National Trust for Historic Preservation in the U.S. The historic site is open to the public.

LEGO Architecture products come in two types: Landmark and Architect. The Landmark series features well-known buildings, while the Architect series focuses on the work of important architects. Mies van der Rohe is the second architect to be featured after Frank Lloyd Wright.

The LEGO Farnsworth House™ is available for purchase from April 1 in LEGO brand retail stores, LEGOLAND Stores and online at http://shop.lego.com/ . Toy stores, mass retail stores, bookstores, art galleries, museums, hotels, gifts souvenir shops, hobby shops and online will follow in June. The product is designed for ages 12 and up and will include a content-rich booklet with facts and history of Farnsworth House™. Suggested retail is $59.99 or €59.99.

About the LEGO Group

LEGO Modernist Architecture
image from LEGO Architecture

The LEGO Group is a privately held, family-owned company, based in Billund, Denmark. It was founded in 1932 and today the group is one of the world’s leading manufacturers of play materials for children, employing approximately 9,000 people globally. The LEGO Group is committed to the development of children’s creative and imaginative abilities. LEGO products can be purchased in more than 130 countries.

About National Trust for Historic Preservation

The National Trust for Historic Preservation (www.PreservationNation.org) is a non-profit membership organization bringing people together to protect, enhance and enjoy the places that matter to them. By saving the places where great moments from history – and the important moments of everyday life – took place, the National Trust for Historic Preservation helps revitalize neighborhoods and communities, spark economic development and promote environmental sustainability. With headquarters in Washington, DC, eight regional and field offices, 29 historic sites, and partner organizations in 50 states, territories, and the District of Columbia, the National Trust for Historic Preservation provides leadership, education, advocacy and resources to a national network of people, organizations and local communities committed to saving places, connecting us to our history and collectively shaping the future of America’s stories.

LEGO and the LEGO logo are trademarks of The LEGO Group. ©2011 The LEGO Group.

LEGO Architecture : Information from 2008, extract below

LEGO Buildings

Lego have teamed up with a company called Brickstuctures to fabricate a range of models of the world’s most famous buildings, such as Sears Tower, the Empire State Building and the Burj Dubai Tower.

Brickstuctures led by ‘Architectural Artist’ Adam Reed Tucker, who gained a Degree in Architecture at Kansas State University in 1996.

LEGO Architecture line:

Lego Model
image © 2009 The LEGO Group

FRANK LLOYD WRIGHT FOUNDATION ANNOUNCES NEW LICENSEE

The LEGO Group and Brickstructures, Inc. to produce and distribute
Frank Lloyd Wright Collection® LEGO® Architecture Building Sets

TALIESIN WEST, SCOTTSDALE, ARIZONA, MAY 12, 2009 -The Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation announced today that The LEGO Group is now the exclusive licensed manufacturer of Frank Lloyd Wright Collection® LEGO Architecture sets.

The LEGO Group and Adam Reed Tucker of Brickstructures, Inc. officially introduced the LEGO Architecture line in 2008. The line currently consists of six buildings – now including two of Frank Lloyd Wright’s most famous and recognizable buildings, the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum and “Fallingwater.”

With models developed in collaboration with architects, LEGO Architecture works to inspire future architects, engineers and designers as well as architecture fans around the world with the LEGO brick as a medium. Builders of all ages can now collect and construct their favorite worldwide architectural sites through these artistic replicas.

Both exclusive Frank Lloyd Wright LEGO Architecture sets contain booklets that feature traditional building instructions along with exclusive archival historical material and photographs of each iconic building.

The LEGO Group will release the first of the LEGO Architecture Frank Lloyd Wright Collection® sets at the opening of the Frank Lloyd Wright Exhibit: From Within Outward at the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum on May 15, 2009.

Doug Volker of the Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation
According to Director of Licensing and Product Development, Doug Volker, “The LEGO product was one that the Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation had considered pursuing for several years. It was the vision, passion and creative desire of Adam Reed Tucker to capture the essence of Mr. Wright’s most famous buildings using the medium of the LEGO brick that brought this partnership into being.”

Another exciting aspect of the Architecture Series is the capability to use them for education, team building, or other formats that make the LEGO Architecture series more than just a toy.

“The LEGO Group is known for its creative approach to brick models and now, with its Architecture Series, it will reach even further, to individuals of all ages,” Volker concluded.

Adam Reed Tucker of Brickstructures and the LEGO Group
“Mr. Wright’s buildings are a treasure trove of possibilities,” says Adam Reed Tucker, innovator of the Architecture Series for The LEGO Group. “I wanted to create these marvelous buildings for years, so I’m thrilled to be working with the Foundation in order to include Mr. Wright’s timeless buildings in this series, which conceptualizes the very essence of each building in LEGO bricks.”

Architectural Design

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Frank Lloyd Wright

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images courtesy of the Obama Foundation
Obama Presidential Center, Jackson Park: OPC Chicago

LEGO Building Competition

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