Here's a man who knows his bricks and looking at these remarkable models Jonathan Lopes must have an in-depth awareness of hundreds and hundreds of individual LEGO bricks. This well-produced book is a celebration of New York's most memorable buildings from Manhattan skyscrapers to Junior's Restaurant in Brooklyn. The introduction says these models are not scale replicas but instead capture the feel of each building including the model-maker's little personal touches.
Some of the details are rather awe-inspiring, the Woolworth building, constructed in 2012 has about 120,000 pieces and stands 91 inches tall, the 2018 built Brooklyn Bridge is 199 inches wide with 20,000 bricks, the Chrysler Building from 2017 has 13,800 bricks and stands 64 inches high. This model is rather interesting because all the brick studs have been covered to create smooth walls except on the various roofs and nicely the corner gargoyles have been included.
The book has four chapters: Historic Skyline; Neighborhoods; Firehouses; New York City -- Inspired LEGO art. Historic skyline obviously has the city's more famous buildings but I enjoyed looking at the much smaller scale structures in the Neighbourhood chapter and it's possible to see how Lopes creates detail by using the underneath of LEGO bricks and plates. Firehouses have five stations, all with vibrant red doors and lots of small details like air-con units, plant pots, flags and (predictably) fire hydrants. The last chapter has really imaginative buildings inspired by LEGO, especially one called A Vanishing Brooklyn, with a contemporary straight-line structure bursting through an old brownstone whose bricks have been peeled back to reveal the newer one inside.
As well as the excellent photos (including close-ups) of the models there are lots of pages very much like those in the LEGO instruction booklets so you can, for example, have a go at building the spire of the Helmsley Building or one of the piers for the Manhattan Bridge or the four ornamental towers atop the Woolworth Building. A neat little extra is a mini poster stuck inside the back cover, folding out to 38.5 inches wide with Grand Central Terminal on one side and the Chrysler Building on the other.
US
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