Barnes & Noble LEGO Architecture Studio Event

Yesterday, I attended one of the many LEGO Architecture events held in Barnes & Noble stores throughout the United States. The event was to talk about aspects of the design process in architecture as well as to promote the new LEGO Architecture Studio (21050) set.

At the event, there were a couple of guest speakers that were invited to speak to the attendees: MiraCosta College Drafting & Architecture professor, David Parker, and former Master Model Designer and fellow SandLUG member, Mariann Asanuma. She also runs the popular site, Model Building Secrets so if you want to learn some juicy secrets from a LEGO Master Model Builder, I suggest heading over there and checking the site out. Kevin, Ambassador of SandLUG, was also available to show off a few his amazing modular buildings.

Before the event started, there were about three tables that were set up for the people who were signed up for the event. Keep in mind that this event was supposed to be for teens and adults. Unfortunately, many parents dropped in with their kids without signing up beforehand and the host had to scramble to get more tables for people to work on. Even then, there were a few people who did not get a chance to participate. By my count, there were at least 30 people there, if not more.

First off, Mr. Parker talked about some of the different architectural elements such as scale and modularity and the attendees had to build something that incorporated those elements. During this time, Mariann showed off some of her models such as her macro scale LEGO bricks and also her smaller scale build of a McDonald’s building and the Barnes & Noble store as an example of some architectural elements. The Barnes & Noble model took Mariann about three hours to complete the day before and only going off a picture from the front of the actual building.

Bags of various LEGO bricks were handed out and participants were given a 16×16 plate to build on. Given that these were younger kids we’re talking about here and they were to follow the professor’s instructions of building something with scale and modularity, I didn’t think it was going to go well. In the end, everyone did a fantastic job. There were some really great models and everyone had a good time.

Again, the LEGO Architecture Studio (21050) set is now available at Barnes & Noble stores and select LEGO stores. The set will also be available on Shop@Home on August 1st. The Brick Blogger has recently done a through review on the set if you to see what it looks like before you pick it up. Check out all the pictures from yesterday’s event below.