Café Project
I wanted to create a simple café in LEGO. Inclined toward a simple, outdoor-seating café, I looked for European cafes that captured the spirit of what I dreamed. I felt this image would be a great starting point on my journey.
In my first iteration, I felt I captured the essence of the Italian cafe, its beige tones and the foilage that covered the building. I didn't like the monochromatic feel of the piece. Success, however, can be seen in the lamps and the vines that scale the building.
In this iteration, I kept the successes from above, but abandoned the dull, overwhelming beige tones. The modernism came from my other builds, where I found beauty in simplicity. I added beginnings of a second floor and textured bricks above the window.
Setting back the door and window with jumper plates creates a much more pleasant look. I added texture behind the vines, and placed the manicured trees. The overall feel is much more inviting.
In this iteration, I added a canal, placing my modern café back into Italy. On examining this piece, however, I'd discard the floating lamps and play with the colours.
I incorporated my café into a scene, changed a few brick colours, and added a kayak to the canal. I really enjoy the lamps throughout the scene and how the modern café sits in a traditional town. I can imagine the sound of the water being pushed by the kayaker's paddle, or the taste of slow-roasted coffee on a cool Italian morning.
Green Building
As I was walking through the park, I saw a modern green building that I thought would be a fun build. Though I wasn't able to make out any of the details of the building, I had a picture of what I wanted to build. In this "first" iteration, you can see influences from my other builds, like the lightning blades I used for vines on my cafe and the transparent bricks with verticle lines.
I continued to the second floor, changing the colour of the left wall, and bricks on the front face. I felt this building just flowed easy, the modernism simple.
Ice Planet Catamaran
I built these catamarans a few years ago in LDD. I am proud of the design of the hull, and thought I could return to that success, and leave behind my horrible decks.
In this iteration, I tried to give the hulls a little more flare. I didn't want just the simple design seen above, even though I like that design in the context of the boat.
I tried to encorporate the Ninjago Style into this iteration by adding tails or wings to the back. Looking at it now, I don't agree with my decision.
I changed the colours from a white and blue colour scheme to green and black. I also hated this change, making the piece feel like an aligator or crocodile, which was not my intention.
In the next two iterations, I went with a simple, one-pilot design. I like the propeller in the one to the right, but not the cockpit. In the one below, I'm not engaged enough. It's too simple and symmetric. I'd like to marry the positive elements of these two designs.
In this iteration, I feel I captured the elements of the above two iterations I enjoyed. There are still parts of the design that I'm not entirely satisfied with, and LEGO elements that do not share strong connections physically, but aesthetically, I feel this is a much more pleasing design.
Changing the sides of the hulls and the angle made this iteration more engaging. I went back to placing the 2x3 plates vertically on either side of the cockpit and centered the cockpit. The double propellers and engines make the deck feel complete. All in all, I'm happy with the results of all these iterations.
Sea of Pillars
I was looking for images to help me build a structure for my Tartini World. I found this apartment building, simple yet beautiful and thought it would
be a great start.
In this first iteration, I feel I captured the aesthitics of the building well. I am impressed with my glass railing.
I dropped this project after creating the second floor, due to the numerous similarities with my LEGO Ideas submission "The Strand." I felt that project captured the tones of modernism simply and reflected my attitudes more profoundly. Iterating on such a complete piece, to me, appears absurd.
Addition to the Creperie
Expanding upon an earlier MOC and ideas from previous creations, I began combining successes. In an attempt to place the building, I created bushes and flowers. The environment embedded itself quickly in my mind, transforming the interior into a flower shop. I find retail interiors too repetative and lacking enthusiasm. Next, I endeavored to turn it into a pizzeria, but the color, exterior and location didn't match. My narrative for this project is a small town, too quiet for a busy New York pie.
The exterior experienced only minor changes. I am much more pleased with the interior of the build, however. The oven build is slightly adapted for the edifice, but essentially the same as in my previous builds. The dark orange ingot pieces yield themselves as a loaf well.
