Ever wonder what would happen if professional architects were given Lego sets of famous buildings and asked to construct something from the same pieces? Us either, but someone did, so they recruited a few firms to do just that. The results were incredible.
In case you didn’t know, Lego has an architecture series that give people the pieces and instructions to rebuild famous buildings, like Frank Lloyd Wright’s Falling Water and the Guggenheim Museum. These are buildings that laypeople know all to well, so you can only imagine how many times the average architect has considered reworking (or maybe demolishing?) them.
Iconeye gave these kits–the most popular being Falling Water–to notable firms like Adjaye Associates, Foster + Partners, and AOC, and let them have at it. Short of a conversation about clever eyewear this is the most fun the typical architecture can (legally) have, so the structures they came up with are as fascinating as you’d expect. The fact that they did not have to be practical or serve any particular purpose makes these reimaginings of canonical architecture works that much better.
Above, you can see the work by Foster + Partners–it’s nothing like Falling Water, as Lego intended it. It’s reminiscent (to me) of something that would go on the top of a battleship, but whatever it is, it’s undeniably cool. No wonder it’s impressive–it comes from the team behind a major part of the World Trade Center project and the Hearst Tower (though they did unspeakable horrors to the famous Emeco chair).
Other firms got a bit more creative. The FAT collective turned the building into an birds-eye view of a highly organized city (more architects that want to be city planners?). Another firm got out the heatgun and turned Falling Water into Melting Water. Certainly less conventional, but just as interesting for us architecture fans.