LEGO Architecture United Nations Headquarters - The ‘Scale Model’ Line - LEGO Architecture in the 1960 s

The‘ScaleModel’line–LEGOArchitectureinthes
ThehistoryofthecurrentLEGOArchitectureseriescan
betracedbacktothebeginningoftheswhenthe
popularity of the LEGO brick was steadily increasing
Godtfred Kirk Christiansen the then owner of the
companybeganlookingforwaystofurtherexpandthe
LEGOsystemandaskedhisdesignerstocomeupwith
asetofcomponentsthatwouldaddanewdimensionto
LEGObuilding
Theiranswerwasassimpleasitwasrevolutionaryfive
elementsthatmatchedtheexistingbricksbutwereonly
onethirdtheheightThesenewbuilding‘‘plates’’madeit
possibletoconstructmoredetailedmodelsthanbefore
ThisgreaterLEGOflexibilityseemedtomatchthespirit
of the age modernist architects were redefining how
houseslookedandpeopleweretakinganactiveinterest
inthedesignoftheirnewhomesItwasthesetrendsthat
ledtotheintroductionoftheLEGO‘ScaleModel’linein
early
Thenameitselfwasadirectlinktothewayarchitectsand
engineersworkedanditwashopedthattheyandothers
would build their projects ‘to scale’ in LEGO elements
As with LEGO Architecture today the original sets
weredesignedtobedifferentfromthenormalbrightly
coloredLEGOboxesandalsoincluded‘AnArchitectural
Book’’forinspiration
Thoughthefiveelementsremainanintegralpartofthe
LEGObuildingsystemtodaythe‘ScaleModel’linewas
phased out in  Many of the principles from the
serieswouldre-emerge
over  years later in
the LEGO Architecture
series
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21018_BI_NA.indd 114 26/03/2013 5:45 PM