After four years of LEGO construction, my model of the Penobscot Block is complete. It includes models of the Savoyard Center, 1900 (1 foot high), original Penobscot Building, 1905 (3 feet high), Ford Building, 1909 (4 feet high), Penobscot Annex, 1913 (5.5 feet high), and the Penobscot Building, 1928 (9.5 feet to roof, 11 feet to top of spire). The entire block probably weighs on the order of 400 pounds.

The Penobscot Block is being displayed at the Midland Center for the Arts as part of the Art of the Brick exhibit featuring the LEGO art of Nathan Sawaya (June 12 to September 2, 2010). Eighteen of J Spencer Rezkalla's microscale skyscrapers comprising his Skyline exhibit are also on display. The Michigan LEGO train club will have a train and town layout with operating LEGO trains.

One of Lar's buildings under construction.

The MichLTC display runs from November 27, 2009 to January 3, 2010 in conjunction with the LEGO Castle Adventure exhibit at The Henry Ford.

A bullet train speeds past the fire station. The fire station is an expanded version of the new CC series LEGO set. It and the nearby buildings were built by Chris Leach.

The MichLTC display runs from November 27, 2009 to January 3, 2010 in conjunction with the LEGO Castle Adventure exhibit at The Henry Ford.

After 22 months of off and on construction, the LEGO Guardian Building is complete. The model is 8 feet (2.46 meters) high to the roof. The building's base measures 136 x 48 LEGO studs.

This model will be displayed for the first time at the Henry Ford Museum starting on November 24, 2014 and ending in early January 2015.

As you can see, the spandrel design alternates every two floors.

My Lego replica of Detroit's Fisher Building. The other buildings in the foreground are not based on any specific prototypes but were simply attempts to try out different architectural styles.

A year after its (re)modeling in LEGO on the 3D Stud.io software by BrickLink, it was time to reproduce it in real life !

Here is my faithful replica of the new One World Tarde Center in New York, made up of more than 28,000 LEGO bricks, assembled in more than 60 hours, and illuminated at night with LEDs !

A little bit of history first, One World Trade Center nicknamed “Freedom Tower” and its 541 meters high (1,776 feet, corresponding to the year of the United States Declaration of Independence) is the tallest tower in New York, in the United States and the Western Hemisphere. 🇺🇸

It’s also the most expensive tower in the world, costing nearly $3.9 billion, and is the most technologically advanced and environmentally sustainable skyscraper. 🌟

But now, in LEGO ???

This centerpiece is part of my project consisting of almost faithfully reproducing the new Ground 0 - World Trade Center district in LEGO.

It went through several versions before arriving at this final version which is more geometric, more voluminous and better worked.

Admire these inclined facades !

I won’t be able to describe every detail here since there are a lot, but the main points are :

- More than 28,000 parts.

- The building measures 2.25 m (7.4 ft) with a scale of 1:245 ! 📏

- It includes the almost faithfully reproduced One World Observatory platform as well as all the floors of the tower.

- It’s lit at night with LEDs for the floors, as well as addressable RGB LEDs for the lobby and antenna that can change color individually.💡

I wanted to thank BlueBrixx for providing me with alternative LEGO Trans-Clear plates for the lobby as well as rigid hoses for the metal rings on the roof.

Check my Instagram to see more about my project !

#oculus #oculusnyc #oneworldtradecenter #911memorialmuseum #worldtradecenter #lego #legoart #legoartist #legocity #legoarchitecture #legobuilding #legotower #legoskyscraper #skyscraper #tower #building #legoafol #afol #afols #moc #legomoc #legomocs #newyork #nyc #nycity #mywtc #legophotography #legostagram #legoinstagram #instalego

Sydney's new as yet to be built hotel and casino on Barangaroo point.

Crown Hotel Barangaroo

89 hours to build

9844 Bricks

Built by Ashley Bognar

here you can see the rotating shape of the tower.

Sydney's new as yet to be built hotel and casino on Barangaroo point.

Crown Hotel Barangaroo

89 hours to build

9844 Bricks

Built by Ashley Bognar

Best part is Ashley's Tennis court, made with white LEGO string.

My models of the Guardian Building, Wayne County Building and Detroit Public Library on the Michigan LEGO User Group layout at Brickworld Michigan 2017 (September 23 and 24). Smaller buildings in the foreground are by other MichLUG builders.

Here it is, my newest model, the Woolworth Building.

This model stands at 63cm tall and contains ~8,500 pieces, built at a 1:400 scale. There is a lot of techniques I had to come up with to be able to get all of the details in the

façade and the roof. The details of the Woolworth Building are so intricate that it would be impossible to include everything at this scale but I tried my best to make it work. I'm really happy with the way it has turned out and I can't wait to get started on my next build....

The Woolworth Building is an early American skyscraper located in Manhattan, New York City.Designed by architect Cass Gilbert, it was the tallest building in the world from 1913 to 1930, with a height of 792 feet (241 m). Located in Manhattan's Tribeca neighborhood, The 60-story structure consists of a 30-story tower situated atop a 30-story base.

Its facade is mostly decorated with terracotta (though the lower portions are limestone) and contains thousands of windows.

The skyscraper was originally conceived by F. W. Woolworth, the founder of a brand of popular five-and-ten-cent stores, as a headquarters for his company. Woolworth planned the skyscraper jointly with the Irving National Exchange Bank, which also agreed to use the structure as its headquarters.

Construction started in 1910, and it was completed two years later. The Woolworth Building underwent several changes throughout its history.

The top thirty floors, formerly used as office space, were sold to a developer in 2012 and subsequently converted into residences. The remainder of the building remains in use by office and commercial tenants.

The LEGO display at the Saginaw Castle Museum also includes a Detroit section which includes two of my LEGO models.

My rendition of the Penobscot Annex in LEGO. The prototype, designed by Donaldson and Meier, was completed in 1913. It was the second tallest building in Detroit after the Dime Building until the mid 1920s. The LEGO model is 5.4 feet (1.66 meters) high and weighs about 90 pounds. The Penobscot Annex is my fourth tallest LEGO building (Fisher, David Stott, and Penobscot Building [1928] are taller).

The smaller structure to the left is the Savoyard Center (formerly the People's State Bank). I will display the entire Penobscot Block at the Midland Center for the Arts during their "Art of the Brick" exhibit this summer.

Larry's replicas of three structures from Greenfield Village. A blue Model T motors by (note that they did sell the cars in colors other than black but Ford charged more for those colors so most people purchased them in black).

The MichLTC display runs from November 27, 2009 to January 3, 2010 in conjunction with the LEGO Castle Adventure exhibit at The Henry Ford.

I have built 1/3 of the way up to the top of my roughly 1/50 scale LEGO model of Detroit's 40 story Guardian Building.

My new Guardian Building model made its debut as part of the annual Michigan LEGO Train Club (MichLTC) display at the Henry Ford Museum on November 23rd, 2014. I believe that this display which contains six skyscraper models over 5 feet high is MichLTCs largest LEGO skyline EVER! The display runs from November 24th through January 4th, 2015.

Detroit building models in the layout include the following (*= I built it):

1. Guardian Building*

2. Buhl Building

3. Ford Building*

4. Greater Penobscot Building (includes 1905, 1913, and 1928 Penobscot Buildings)*

5. Savoyard Center*

6. Dime Building / Chrysler House

7. David Stott Building*

8. 25 State Street (former Cunningham Drugs / Colonial Dept. store)*

9. Union Depot train station*

10. 1001 Woodward.

There are more photos in my www.brickshelf.com folder.

Donna Terek of the Detroit News did a story (posted December 7, 2014) about my hobby:

www.detroitnews.com/story/opinion/columnists/donna-terek/...

Disclaimer: It was not my idea to use the term "towering ambition".

Also on December 7, 2014, Jim Schaefer of the Detroit Free Press posted a story which he called "A Few Minutes With... A LEGO Extremist" !

www.freep.com/story/news/local/michigan/2014/12/07/minute...

Another view of Larry and Josette's city blocks.

The MichLTC display runs from November 27, 2009 to January 3, 2010 in conjunction with the LEGO Castle Adventure exhibit at The Henry Ford.

The third LEGO skyscraper goes up in Wasabi District! At just over 3 feet tall and over 5000 pieces, this 10-storey building is the first office skyscraper in Wasabi District!

This is the office floor, with a receptionist's desk, 3 office desks and a manager's office, as well as a storage room.

The third LEGO skyscraper goes up in Wasabi District! At just over 3 feet tall and over 5000 pieces, this 10-storey building is the first office skyscraper in Wasabi District!

This is the office floor, with a receptionist's desk, 3 office desks and a manager's office, as well as a storage room.

The classic former worlds tallest building Taipei 101.

here the top section can be sen in more detail, its a great building and is close to one of my favourites of the exhibition.

Taipei 101:

80 Hours to build

18600 Bricks

Built by Mitchell Kruik and Ashley Bognar

With 18 stories, over 9000 LEGO pieces and measuring over 6 feet tall, this modern skyscraper is the tallest, largest building in the Wasabi District!

Future expansion for the second skyscraper.

With 18 stories, over 9000 LEGO pieces and measuring over 6 feet tall, this modern skyscraper is the tallest, largest building in the Wasabi District!

Another easily removable wall for expansion (and easier interior photography!)

With 18 stories, over 9000 LEGO pieces and measuring over 6 feet tall, this modern skyscraper is the tallest, largest building in the Wasabi District!

Restrooms, for him and her!

Berlin’s Red City Hall, envisioned by Hermann Friedrich Waesemann, was completed in 1869 and housed the Berlin government ever since. It was heavily damaged by Allied bombing raids in the 1940s and restored in the 1950s. It then served as East Berlin’s city hall before the Berlin Senate moved back in there in 1991, after the German reunification. The immense height of 94 meters results in the wish to exceed the top of the Berlin Stadtschloss to set a sign against aristocratic regency.

The building is another example of influences of long-gone architectural styles that were popular in nineteenth-century Germany. Waesemann designed the city hall in the Rundbogenstil (round arch style), that got inspired by Romanesque and Renaissance architecture.

The model consists of 1,498 pieces and is built in scale 1:650.

The Michigan Lego Train Club (MichLTC) displayed a 30 x 40 foot train and town layout at the National Model Railroad Associations's National Train Show held at Cobo Conference Center in Detroit, July 27-29, 2007.

This image of my Penobscot and David Stott skyscrapers looks like it was taken on the day the Borg Cubeship arrived overhead to assimulate Detroit.

Lar's and Josette's city blocks which include a very rare light-yellow brick building.

The MichLTC display runs from November 27, 2009 to January 3, 2010 in conjunction with the LEGO Castle Adventure exhibit at The Henry Ford.

Hey everyone! In this album I'll share my latest WIPs and MOCs under construction, mainly the next skyscraper in Wasabi District!

This image, actually taken weeks ago, is a preview of what the latest skyscraper project will look like.

Also, follow @wooootles on Instagram, where I also share LEGO WIPs (and other things too, it's my personal IG account!)

Spencer's recently constructed 1/650 scale model of the World Trade Center (WTC) of New York City (circa 2016?) with all five completed towers. The reality as of March 2012, is that WTC7 is complete and the other towers are in various stages of construction . WTC2 and WTC3 will only progress to the base unless major tenants are signed.

560' (171m). 39 Floors. Art Deco style.

With 18 stories, over 9000 LEGO pieces and measuring over 6 feet tall, this modern skyscraper is the tallest, largest building in the Wasabi District!

Entrance to the restaurant

The third LEGO skyscraper goes up in Wasabi District! At just over 3 feet tall and over 5000 pieces, this 10-storey building is the first office skyscraper in Wasabi District!

This is the office floor, with a receptionist's desk, 3 office desks and a manager's office, as well as a storage room.

The Michigan LEGO User Group (MichLUG) display at the Henry Ford Museum from November 12, 2017 to January 6, 2018. As usual, the display is on the east side of the museum past the giant Allegheny locomotive.

This tower was designed by Adrian Smith in 1999, who later came up with skyscrapers such as the Jin Mao Tower or Burj Khalifa, the highest building in the world. 7 South Dearborn, located in Chicago, would have been the highest building in the world of its time as well. Standing exactly 2000 feet or 610 meters tall, including antennas (which would have been part of the architectural design), it would have surpassed Petronas Towers by more than 150 meters. But the tower was cancelled, obviously, due to financial concerns. Nonetheless, its slender design, forced by the narrow lot, was way ahead of its time; residential buildings grew as tall in New York or Dubai a decade later. 7 South Dearborn's design cues live on in the city, though, through Trump International Hotel and Tower, which is heavily inspired by the tower's proposed facade.

The building consists of 3,526 pieces and is built in scale 1:650.

This tower was designed by Adrian Smith in 1999, who later came up with skyscrapers such as the Jin Mao Tower or Burj Khalifa, the highest building in the world. 7 South Dearborn, located in Chicago, would have been the highest building in the world of its time as well. Standing exactly 2000 feet or 610 meters tall, including antennas (which would have been part of the architectural design), it would have surpassed Petronas Towers by more than 150 meters. But the tower was cancelled, obviously, due to financial concerns. Nonetheless, its slender design, forced by the narrow lot, was way ahead of its time; residential buildings grew as tall in New York or Dubai a decade later. 7 South Dearborn's design cues live on in the city, though, through Trump International Hotel and Tower, which is heavily inspired by the tower's proposed facade.

The building consists of 3,526 pieces and is built in scale 1:650.

My LEGO model of Detroit's Fisher Building displayed as part of the Michigan LEGO Train Club's layout at the Ann Arbor Train Show in Saline, Michigan (February 18-19, 2012). This model was recently rebuilt using tan bricks for the main facade. The original Fisher Building was completed in 1928 and is located in the New Center area of Detroit.

An evil dragon appears to have taken up residence on top of one of the 11 story wings of the Fisher Building.

The Michigan LEGO Users Group put up a display at the Henry Ford museum on November 16th, 2024 for the duration of the holiday season (ends early January 2025).

This image shows a trio of my LEGO creations:

1. Christopher R. Mabley mansion.

2. The Albert (formerly Griswold Building).

3. Russell Industrial Center.

Christopher Mabley founded a series of department stores named for himself during the post Civil War period and was known at the time as Detroit's Merchant Prince. One of his employees was J. L. Hudson, who later left his employ and opened his own store. Mabley's second empire mansion on Woodward Avenue was built in the 1870s and was torn down by 1910 well after Mabley himself passed away.

The Griswold Building was designed by Albert Kahn and built in 1929 as an office building. It was later converted to senior citizen housing. In 2014 the building was again converted, this time to market rate apartments, and renamed "The Albert".

The Russell Industrial Center was originally the Murray Body Corporation factory that supplied the auto bodies to Ford. My model represents the northernmost building in the over 2.2 million (204,000 m2) square feet complex. It was also designed by Albert Kahn starting in 1915 and took several years to complete. It did its part in the "Arsenal of Democracy" during the Second World War by fabricating airplane wings and other aircraft components. Note that the skylight is non-prototype, I wanted to incorporate a skylight similar to that used in parts of the Ford Highland Park factory without having to build another large model of a factory.

* * *

To the left a partial view of a LEGO Godzilla rampaging through a block of ill-fated buildings.

My LEGO model of the Fisher Building is for the first time displayed inside the real Fisher Building. It will be at the Pure Detroit store until early January, 2014.

After four years of LEGO construction, my model of the Penobscot Block is complete. It includes models of the Savoyard Center, 1900 (1 foot high), original Penobscot Building, 1905 (3 feet high), Ford Building, 1909 (4 feet high), Penobscot Annex, 1913 (5.5 feet high), and the Penobscot Building, 1928 (9.5 feet to roof, 11 feet to top of spire). The entire block probably weighs on the order of 400 pounds.

This photo shows portions of all three Penobscot buildings.

The Penobscot Block is being displayed at the Midland Center for the Arts as part of the Art of the Brick exhibit featuring the LEGO art of Nathan Sawaya (June 12 to September 2, 2010). Eighteen of J Spencer Rezkalla's microscale skyscrapers comprising his Skyline exhibit are also on display. The Michigan LEGO train club will have a train and town layout with operating LEGO trains.

A detail shot to show my attempt to model the brick built setbacks that transition from the base to the shaft of the skyscraper.

This view shows the uncompleted roof of the Fisher Building parking garage. This roof is constructed of LEGO Technic bricks and various plates. The junctions of the technic bricks are covered by 6x6 or larger plates top and bottom with regular red bricks in between to ensure that all 36 studs are gripped. This construction method allows the roof to span 74 studs in the shorter direction with a relatively low profile of 2 bricks high total thickness including the final top surface (not shown here).

The parking garage in the real building was originally designed to hold 1,100 cars.

Berlin’s Red City Hall, envisioned by Hermann Friedrich Waesemann, was completed in 1869 and housed the Berlin government ever since. It was heavily damaged by Allied bombing raids in the 1940s and restored in the 1950s. It then served as East Berlin’s city hall before the Berlin Senate moved back in there in 1991, after the German reunification. The immense height of 94 meters results in the wish to exceed the top of the Berlin Stadtschloss to set a sign against aristocratic regency.

The building is another example of influences of long-gone architectural styles that were popular in nineteenth-century Germany. Waesemann designed the city hall in the Rundbogenstil (round arch style), that got inspired by Romanesque and Renaissance architecture.

The model consists of 1,498 pieces and is built in scale 1:650.

A LEGO replica of the main branch of the Detroit Public Library.

The MichLTC display runs from November 27, 2009 to January 3, 2010 in conjunction with the LEGO Castle Adventure exhibit at The Henry Ford.

Larry and Josette's buildings.

The MichLTC display runs from November 27, 2009 to January 3, 2010 in conjunction with the LEGO Castle Adventure exhibit at The Henry Ford.

The third LEGO skyscraper goes up in Wasabi District! At just over 3 feet tall and over 5000 pieces, this 10-storey building is the first office skyscraper in Wasabi District!

This is the office floor, with a receptionist's desk, 3 office desks and a manager's office, as well as a storage room.

Details of the upper stories of the Penobscot Annex LEGO model. Being influenced by the Chicago School, the architects did not lavish much detail on the building. They made an exception on the top few stories.

The third LEGO skyscraper goes up in Wasabi District! At just over 3 feet tall and over 5000 pieces, this 10-storey building is the first office skyscraper in Wasabi District!

This is the second office floor, feautiring a large conference room, a break room and a lounge.

Here is my new Ford Building model being displayed as part of a Michigan Lego Train Club display at the Southfield Civic Center. Chris Leach's One Woodward building is on the right.

My lego model of the first Penobscot Building. The prototype was erected in 1905 to the design of architects Donaldson and Meijer in the Beaux-Arts style. Next to it can be seen part of my model of the 47 story third Penobscot Building which was designed by Wirt C. Rowland in 1928.

Here is a link to a picture of the real first Penobscot Buidling.

As a symbol of socialist strength and economical power, the former German Democratic Republic (East Germany) had the tallest structure of western Europe built in the center of Germany’s largest city at a time when other European countries were not even thinking about high rises of this scale. At 368 meters, the Berliner Fernsehturm, completed in 1969, surpassed the former Berliner Funkturm in the western part of the city by more than 220 meters and remains the tallest building in Europe west of Latvia. Its characteristic silvery shining sphere is an integral part of Berlin’s iconic skyline.

At the foot of the tower lies the Park am Fernsehturm, consisting of public green spaces, the Neptune Fountain, and the more than 700 years old St. Mary’s Church of Berlin.

The model consists of 2,684 pieces and is built in scale 1:650.