Modular Building Sets - Rumours and Discussion

[LegoModularFan]

On 13/12/2017 at 5:34 PM, DeanLearner said:

However if I had one style at number one on my wish list for Lego then it would be Art Nouveau. There isn’t much in the way of Art Nouveau architecture (despite some incredibly iconic decorative features and signage), but what there is (the best example I have seen seen personally is Alesund in Norway), has a very charming European style that is a perfect fit for Lego.

There are already some great curved decorative elements that could be used, and with the increasing numbers of curves and bows, I bet someone could do a really great job once given the ability to get part recolours.

On 14/12/2017 at 3:24 PM, Digger of Bricks said:

Oooh, that could be awesome!

While the Miami Beach, Streamlined Moderne style of the Downtown Diner has left a slight division amongst fans, I can't see there being much dislike for a Art Nouveau styled modular. Here's a few architectural examples from Pinterest that could serve as appropriate scaled inspiration.

On 14/12/2017 at 7:51 PM, x105Black said:

Also, Art Nouveau might be cool to see.

Oh! That would be so nice! I have been exploring Art Nouveau for a while! I found so many inspirations, so I’m planning to make a few MOCs based on my favorite buildings in AN style with AN furnitures inside. But I still need to discover new building techniques and find the perfect bricks to reproduce the details. For now, (as my first MOC) I’m planning to make a MOC based on a cute old building -non AN- in Paris 

My favorite Art Nouveau buildings so far are:

Villa Majorelle

Lavirotte Building 

Maison Coilliot 

Casa Batlló 

Casa Major Pessoa

Cheers!

Edited January 28, 2018 by LegoModularFan

[BrickFit26]

On 12/19/2017 at 7:30 PM, Digger of Bricks said:

How weird, Mike (the designer) says in that first video that their first rough concept for 2018's modular was for a automobile dealership, and I was just talking about that as a possible modular successor in the previous page of this topic.  

Yes. And the design for the car dealership was really cool.  I wish would have kept that design and just do something else besides the dealership.

[paupadros]

17 hours ago, LegoModularFan said:

Casa Batlló 

Trying to build Casa Batlló in Lego is a suicidal mission. Trust me, I once tried and sorta failed. The building that turned out was nice, but it looked nothing like Casa Batlló! 

And talking about Art Nouveau, here in Catalunya there are hundreds and hundreds of small houses around every corner (not as grandiose as the ones you posted up there, but nice and very Art Nouveau-ish.

 

My favourite is Casa Comalat, also located in Barcelona, which is an awkward but freaking awesome piece of witchcraft!

[LegoModularFan]

3 hours ago, BrickFit26 said:

Yes. And the design for the car dealership was really cool.  I wish would have kept that design and just do something else besides the dealership.

I agree with you, but the best design in my opinion was the one shown between 05:38-08:30, it was more colorful I think, I like especially the limb elements on the wall and the the windows of the “capturing the shape of jukebox” section were cool. But the backside of that design was a little bit lacking, but the official DD has a very interesting backside. The best would have been in my opinion to take the side from that design  and the backside from the official one. 

[Capparezza]

1 hour ago, paupadros said:

Trying to build Casa Batlló in Lego is a suicidal mission. Trust me, I once tried and sorta failed. The building that turned out was nice, but it looked nothing like Casa Batlló! 

And talking about Art Nouveau, here in Catalunya there are hundreds and hundreds of small houses around every corner (not as grandiose as the ones you posted up there, but nice and very Art Nouveau-ish.

 

My favourite is Casa Comalat, also located in Barcelona, which is an awkward but freaking awesome piece of witchcraft!

Casa Batlló and Casa Comalat are looking a lot like what Hundertwasser did a couple decades later... Very nice looking. But putting those shapes into LEGO-form, yeah, might come near to a "suicidal mission", as you stated.

[LegoModularFan]

3 hours ago, paupadros said:

Trying to build Casa Batlló in Lego is a suicidal mission. Trust me, I once tried and sorta failed. The building that turned out was nice, but it looked nothing like Casa Batlló! 

And talking about Art Nouveau, here in Catalunya there are hundreds and hundreds of small houses around every corner (not as grandiose as the ones you posted up there, but nice and very Art Nouveau-ish.

Thanks for the valuable insight.  I know it's difficult, but I will reduce all those Art Nouveau buildings to 3 or max. 4 story modulars with taking the most insteresting and non-repetitive floors from those buildings. But that's just a future plan, I even didn't start my first MOC 

3 hours ago, paupadros said:

My favourite is Casa Comalat, also located in Barcelona, which is an awkward but freaking awesome piece of witchcraft!

Thanks, didn't see that one before! The exterior isn't adorable even if there are some interesting details but the interior is the just the opposite 

[Digger of Bricks]

4 hours ago, paupadros said:

Trying to build Casa Batlló in Lego is a suicidal mission. Trust me, I once tried and sorta failed. The building that turned out was nice, but it looked nothing like Casa Batlló! 

I can see why. 

Well, it goes without saying, but I find that some of the most beautiful Lego creations are those that aren't scaled recreations of particular real life objects, but those that flow with the System to create inspired reimaginings of those objects.

4 hours ago, paupadros said:

My favourite is Casa Comalat, also located in Barcelona, which is an awkward but freaking awesome piece of witchcraft!

Being a corner building, that one looks like it's just waiting to be reimagined as a modular, if you can capture those wispy curves.

[paupadros]

2 hours ago, LegoModularFan said:

Thanks, didn't see that one before! The exterior isn't adorable even if there are some interesting details but the interior is the just the opposite 

Fun fact about it, it actually has two façades on two different streets and the one I showed is, in fact, the back façade (but I think is better than the main one). I love that it looks like a growing mushroom farm, which is somewhat creppy but cool.

 

1 hour ago, Digger of Bricks said:

Being a corner building, that one looks like it's just waiting to be reimagined as a modular, if you can capture those wispy curves.

I had the intention to try. But... I've literally no idea how to do the upper section (I think the windows themselves could do the trick with some angling here and there), but the roof top... Just bananas... And look at it from the top, it makes somewhat like a 45-degree angle on it whole, and tell me how you'd make that work. Well, you could actually double it up somehow. I don't know I won't pretend I've got a clue how I'd turn this into a modular!

[BrickFit26]

20 hours ago, LegoModularFan said:

I agree with you, but the best design in my opinion was the one shown between 05:38-08:30, it was more colorful I think, I like especially the limb elements on the wall and the the windows of the “capturing the shape of jukebox” section were cool. But the backside of that design was a little bit lacking, but the official DD has a very interesting backside. The best would have been in my opinion to take the side from that design  and the backside from the official one. 

It's a good design too, but I really like the original. Also, I love that radio tower that he originally wanted.

[Bricked1980]

The designer video for DD has been released today.

Looks pretty awesome! Just a shame the video seems to be more focused on the designer himself and doesn't actually show all that much of the diner.

Edited December 28, 2017 by Bricked1980

[Vindicare]

That makes me even more excited to get it. Is it January yet?!

[paul_delahaye]

Great video, although he may need to brush up on his Modular Building history, giving Cafe Corner had a giant HOTEL sign hanging off the wall 

[LegoModularFan]

I’m pretty disappointed with the designer video for which I was waiting for a month... As @Bricked1980 said, they are not presenting the DD. This is indeed presenting the “designers” and not the “design”  I still hope that they release a “real” designer video.

 

On 28/12/2017 at 9:25 PM, paul_delahaye said:

Great video, although he may need to brush up on his Modular Building history, giving Cafe Corner had a giant HOTEL sign hanging off the wall 

That was exactly what I was going to say! What a shame he doesn’t remember the CC, perhaps he was speaking about an hotel with an interior... but in that case he should have made it clear. 

Anyway that’s not so bad, maybe they will make an hotel next year. So we already have an idea of the next years modular! That would be nice to have an hotel with interior, at least for me 

Edited December 31, 2017 by LegoModularFan

[ReplicaOfLife]

2 hours ago, LegoModularFan said:

I’m pretty disappointed with the designer video for which I was waiting for a month... As @Bricked1980 said, they are not presenting the DD. This is indeed presenting the “designer” and not the “design”  I still hope that they release a “real” designer video.

 

That was exactly what I was going to say! What a shame he doesn’t know/remember the CC, perhaps he was speaking about an hotel with an interior... but in that case he should have made it clear. 

Anyway that’s not so bad, maybe they will make an hotel next year. So we already have an idea of the next years modular! That would be nice to have an hotel with interior, at least for me 

Somebody posted a video here a few weeks back of him giving a presentation on DD. The video was pretty bad quality (filmed from the audience), but yielded a LOT more infos on the set, the design process and design choices. Lego should post something like that as the designer video.

Oh yeah, there also was a short interview that zusammengebaut did, and in it Mike mentions that he doesn't know/can't figure out why people love the modular buildings. See here.

 

[LegoModularFan]

On 17/12/2017 at 4:20 PM, LegoModularFan said:

I don’t know but just found these two videos:

 

6 hours ago, RogerSmith said:

Somebody posted a video here a few weeks back of him giving a presentation on DD. The video was pretty bad quality (filmed from the audience), but yielded a LOT more infos on the set, the design process and design choices. Lego should post something like that as the designer video.

Oh yeah, there also was a short interview that zusammengebaut did, and in it Mike mentions that he doesn't know/can't figure out why people love the modular buildings. See here.

 

That’s so funny, as you can see, that was me who posted those two videos  

I have already watched these two videos, I think DD is a nice modular but that’s a shame to know that it’s designed by someone who knows much less about the modulars than an AFOL!

Edited December 30, 2017 by LegoModularFan

[Bricked1980]

10 hours ago, LegoModularFan said:

I’m pretty disappointed with the designer video for which I was waiting for a month... As @Bricked1980 said, they are not presenting the DD. This is indeed presenting the “designer” and not the “design”  I still hope that they release a “real” designer video.

I agree. I'd been looking forward to the designer video showing us some decent shots of the set. Hopefully Jangbricks will review the diner soon on YouTube. Reckon I'm gonna wait till I've seen his video before I make a decision about whether to buy this one or not.

[ncx]

I have to say something, especially since this is inspired by American culture. The Diner is of a 1950s style called “Art Deco”. It was a very popular style in the 1940-60s. Even our trains and cars began to use the styling.

The Diner itself is very similar to a diner called Mel’s Diner in the West coast. (Minus the apartment building above) The bright colors are supposed to mimick the neon lights that were used at the time for signage and decoration. 

I love this modular, I plan to buy 2 and merge them into 1 big XL modular like I did with my brick bank. 

 

And for the the guy that said the designer doesn’t know about the history of the modulars, I think they did that on purpose as a teaser. The video was heavily edited, I doubt they would have left that in there if it was a mistake. 

The fact he said “we don’t have a hotel, we need a hotel”. Even the music changed during that comment like it was an intentional tease. 

To me the design of the Cafe Corner is a Cafe not a Hotel. It says Hotel but the main focus is on the Cafe. Just like the Detective Office is the main focus and not the apartments above. The Brick Bank is the main focus, not the laundrymat.  He was likely referring to a full on Hotel focused modular. 

You guys really rush to judgement when you really don’t know for sure if that is the case. Stuff like this is what makes me hate AFOLs. They are so stuck up and think they know it all. 

[astra]

7 hours ago, ncx said:

And for the the guy that said the designer doesn’t know about the history of the modulars, I think they did that on purpose as a teaser. The video was heavily edited, I doubt they would have left that in there if it was a mistake. 

The fact he said “we don’t have a hotel, we need a hotel”. Even the music changed during that comment like it was an intentional tease. 

You guys really rush to judgement when you really don’t know for sure if that is the case. Stuff like this is what makes me hate AFOLs. They are so stuck up and think they know it all. 

That was my understanding too about the hotel; first thing that came to my mind was "ah, so in the next iteration or maybe the one after that, we will have a proper hotel". 

As far as judgement concerned, I recognise what you are saying and think that it has a truth in it, but not every AFOL is the same (although I never visit AFOL events, due to what you mentioned), and most of it comes out of enthusiasm about what the reasons behind some things are.

On a side note; can't wait to see a DD XL!

[koalayummies]

14 hours ago, ncx said:

I have to say something, especially since this is inspired by American culture. The Diner is of a 1950s style called “Art Deco”. It was a very popular style in the 1940-60s. Even our trains and cars began to use the styling.

The Diner itself is very similar to a diner called Mel’s Diner in the West coast. (Minus the apartment building above) The bright colors are supposed to mimick the neon lights that were used at the time for signage and decoration. 

Stuff like this is what makes me hate AFOLs. They are so stuck up and think they know it all. 

Art deco and its history have been a part of the discussion since November 18th, the day the first images leaked.

[SwissBrick]

On 28/12/2017 at 9:25 PM, paul_delahaye said:

Great video, although he may need to brush up on his Modular Building history, giving Cafe Corner had a giant HOTEL sign hanging off the wall 

That was second degree... done on purpose 

[ReplicaOfLife]

On 30.12.2017 at 5:23 PM, LegoModularFan said:

 

That’s so funny, as you can see, that was me who posted those two videos  

I have already watched these two videos, I think DD is a nice modular but that’s a shame to know that it’s designed by someone who knows much less about the modulars than an AFOL!

Heh, fancy that .

[Sven F]

I prefer this type of video over the previous ones, not that anything was wrong with them, but I am more interested in the design process and the designer than the set. There are plenty of reviewers out there who will dissect the set for you anyway.

Edited January 1, 2018 by Sven F

[Aanchir]

7 hours ago, Sven F said:

I prefer this type of video over the previous ones, not that anything was wrong with them, but I am more interested in the design process and the designer than the set. There are plenty of reviewers out there who will dissect the set for you anyway.

Yeah, my big takeaway from the designer video was that it wasn't what I expected, but I learned a lot more than I did in a usual designer video. Mike went into a lot of detail about his design background and design process, whereas usually we might only get snippets of those kinds of details in between a bunch of details about the set that would already be obvious from reviews or even from official pictures.

And maybe that's a smart move! LEGO already knows that there will inevitably be loads of in-depth reviews for their most popular sets. What's the point in trying to compete with those to deliver the same information instead of delving into the sort of behind-the-scenes details that we can only get from the designers themselves?

[alsielou]

5 hours ago, Aanchir said:

Yeah, my big takeaway from the designer video was that it wasn't what I expected, but I learned a lot more than I did in a usual designer video. Mike went into a lot of detail about his design background and design process, whereas usually we might only get snippets of those kinds of details in between a bunch of details about the set that would already be obvious from reviews or even from official pictures.

And maybe that's a smart move! LEGO already knows that there will inevitably be loads of in-depth reviews for their most popular sets. What's the point in trying to compete with those to deliver the same information instead of delving into the sort of behind-the-scenes details that we can only get from the designers themselves?

I totally agree and thanks for your comment. If I hadn’t read it I mightn’t have bothered to watch the designer video precisely because of the reasons you outlined.

It is nice to get to know a bit more about the people who design the sets, and about the process.

[LegoModularFan]

Here are two reviews I found about the DD. I hope to see a review from Jangbricks soon too...