LEGO: The Latest Architecture and News

LEGO® has unveiled the latest buildings to join their architecture series: the Washington D.C. Lincoln Memorial and the New York City Flatiron Building. Both will be released in 2015.

The Lincoln Memorial, a national monument honoring the 16th President of the United States, was designed by Henry Bacon and features a sculpture of Lincoln by Daniel Chester French. The Flatiron Building, originally known as the Fuller Building, is a landmark Manhattan skyscraper designed by Daniel Burnham Frederick Dinkelberg.

The news was released following the grand opening of a new LEGO® Brand Store adjacent to the Flatiron. 

More images of the new LEGO® sets, after the break. 

BIG's LEGO House is now under construction, following a one of a kind foundation laying ceremony featuring - what else - supersized lego bricks. Bjarke Ingels himself was in attendance to lay one of the foundation bricks. Constructed in LEGO's hometown of Billund, Denmark, the LEGO House will be a 12,000 square metre "hands-on minds-on experience centre."

More on the LEGO House, and the foundation laying ceremony, after the break

Official Danish LEGO constructors have teamed up with locals in Budapest, Hungary to build the world’s tallest LEGO tower. Rising 34.76 meters (114 feet) in front of the St. Stephen’s Basilica, the towering spire was officially registered with the Guinness book of World Records for breaking the US’ previous record of 34.43 meters on May 25th. The structure was made of 450,000 colorful bricks and appropriately topped with an oversized, Hungarian-built Rubik's Cube.

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LEGO® has released their newest, limited-edition architecture set: BIG’s unbuilt LEGO® House. Planned for completion in 2016, the creatively stacked “experience center,” which will commemorate the toy company’s history and future, is the first unbuilt project offered as part of the series.

The minimalist, white block set is only available for purchase in LEGO®'s hometown of Billund (or here on ebay). A glimpse of just how the blocks (and building) might be constructed, after the break...

Architects and LEGO® Bricks. For many, it was love at first sight.However, playing with LEGO at the office - fun as it may be - is not exactly something you can justify doing (at least not everyday).

Well, no more. For your procrastination pleasure, Google Chrome and LEGO® have paired up and created "Build With Chrome," a game that lets you play with LEGO online. Good-bye productivity.

Learn more about "Build With Chrome," after the break..

LEGO® has announced the architecture series’ newest addition: The Eiffel Tower (La tour Eiffel). Named after its engineer, Gustave Eiffel, the famous lattice structure is one of the most recognizable landmarks in the world. Built on the Champ de Mars in Paris, France, to serve as the entrance to the 1889 World’s Fair, The Eiffel Tower was the tallest structure in the world until 1930, and remains the tallest structure in Paris. More than 5,000 detailed drawings were required to assemble the 1063-foot tower’s 18,038 iron parts, which took just over two years to complete.

LEGO® has officially announced the next addition to their architecture-inspired products: The United Nations Headquarters. Standing alongside New York City’s East River, the United Nations Headquarters is a beacon of modernism and international collaboration, designed by a team of multinational architects including Le Corbusier and Oscar Niemeyer. Scaling 5 inches high x 8 inches wide x 6 inches deep, this representation of the UN Headquarters costs $49.99.

Check out more about the building and its history here.

LEGO® has unveiled the newest addition to their architecturally-inspired family of products: LEGO® Architecture Studio. Designed as a tool for adults to unleash their inner creative, the 1200-piece, monochromatic set is intended to inspire the masses to think like an architect by creating their own building designs. For just $150, LEGO® fanatics can acquired their own architecture studio set and learn from some of the world’s most renowned architects with a 272-page inspirational guidebook. Though all-nighters are not a prerequisite, most LEGO® Architecture Studio owners have experienced long-lasting design charrettes due to the addictive nature of LEGO®.

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The LEGO® Group has unveiled a new rendition of Jørn Utzon’s beloved Sydney Opera House. Following last year’s unveiling of a slightly smaller edition, LEGO® will challenge the skills of its faithful builders with a new, highly detailed, 3,000 brick model of Australia's most famous landmark.

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The design for BIG’s highly anticipated LEGO® “experience center” - a.k.a. The LEGO® House - has been released! Located in the heart of The Lego Group’s birthplace and home town of Billund, Denmark, the 7,600 square-meter building resembles “gigantic LEGO® bricks” that are “combined and stacked in a creative way to create an imaginative experience both outside and inside.”

True to form, the 30 meter-tall structure will feature several exterior and multi-level access points that will remain open year-long to its estimated 250,000 annual visitors. Aside from its roof-top gardens and 1,900 square-meter public square, attractions will include a series of exhibition areas showcasing the “past, present and future of the LEGO® idea”, a cafe and an unique LEGO® store.

Take a video tour through the building after the break...

LEGO® aficionados, the wait is over. LEGO® has announced the details of their first edition to the 2013 Architecture series! Who better to kick off the new year than LEGO® Architecture staple Frank Lloyd Wright with his Imperial Hotel in Tokyo.

The most celebrated of Wright's six Japanese buildings, the Imperial Hotel was designed in the, then very chic, Mayan Revival style and constructed largely of stone and reinforced concrete. It was lauded for having survived a sizable earthquake shortly after its opening, however in reality portions of the building sunk leaving residents navigating its wobbly corridors. Eventually it was decided to completely demolish the building in 1968 to make way for the high-rise building that stands on the site today.

But fret not, now instead bemoaning the loss of one of Wright's great works, for between $90-$100, big kids and little architects can reinstate this landmark building on their very own living room floor with 1,188 glossy miniature blocks.

More photos after the break...