Gordon Parks Arts Hall

My good friend and fellow VLUGer Dave Kaleta recently completed an architectural piece commissioned by the University of Chicago to celebrate their new Gordon Parks Art Hall.  Turns out the George Lucas Family Foundation was a main contributor to this vast facility.  The director of the University Laboratory Schools then recruited Dave, who's also an alum, to build this model as a gift to George Lucas and his wife Mellody Hobson.  Yeah, you read that right.  Congrats, Dave!

Root Canal

As a dentist, I see people cringe when I say those words.  But when I saw this creation by Lab Synth, I had a different reaction.  Drawing inspiration from Venice, the scene is comprised of a tight succession of palaces along a canal named for the tree in the small plaza.  The owners are extremely competitive, not only with architectural styles, but construction materials as well.  I recommend the zoom feature to see all the intricate details throughout the build.  It's almost like having the magnifiers dentists use when drilling on teeth. 

The Shard

This iconic building was still under construction when I was living and working in London in 2010, but even in it's half-built unfinished state it was impressive. It was completed in 2012 and while it had somewhat divided the public at first, it has since found it's way into the hearts and minds of Londoners and the world. It's a beautiful building, and this brick version by Rocco Buttliere is just as beautiful. Click through for more pics.

The Elephant Building

Craftsmanship seems to be all but forgotten these days. When a new building goes up it's generally pretty boring, and in no time at all very dated and falling apart. We just don't build like we used to, with care and pride. Unless we're talking about LEGO buildings of course. Sure there's the usual police stations and houses, but occasionally we get spoiled by something like this absolutely wonderful structure by Sheo. It's not only gorgeous on the outside, it's fully decorated and furnished inside. Click through for more pictures from all it's excellent levels.

Point Dume Residence

Cesar Soares is now in the luxury resort business.  He's built a single family, beach-side home, complete with private ocean access, and an infinity pool.  For only $5000-6000 per week, depending on the season, this stunning oasis can be yours!  Now, go back and re-read that in you best Robin Leach/Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous accent.  Then check out all the pics of this fantastic piece of architecture.

The Graveyard

How can a MOC be fun and ghoulish at the same time? There's something really charming about this mini diorama by vitreolum. Clean architecture, nice proportions, pleasant color use and interesting silhouette. But then you notice you're actually looking at a graveyard, oh and Death is sneaking up on that poor dude, with a cutlass.

Luxury Modern Townhouse

Premium condos available at Ridge, downtown Vancouver.  Modern amenities, open concept, fully furnished.  Balconies, spectacular ocean views, only three blocks from Rogers Arena.  Designed by renowned architect Paul Brickbaron.  Retail on street level, including Starbucks.  Starting at 2.5M (start saving your pennies).   

Beautiful Balboa Park

If you ever get to San Diego do yourself a favor and spend some time in Balboa Park. There's tons to do there in an incredibly beautiful setting. Just ask long time So-Cal resident and multitalented artist Bill Vollbrecht, he was so inspired by the place he built this stunning MOC based on one of the buildings there, the El Prado Arcade. Makes me want to hop in the car and head down there.

The Lovell House

My favorite architectural style is arts & crafts, but I do appreciate a cool modernist house. These scatter the hills of the more trendy parts of the greater Los Angeles area, a reminder of a burst of growth and the golden age of Hollywood of the 20's through the 40's (and a resurgence in the 60's and 70's). This one is the Lovell “Health” House by architect Richard Neutra, wonderfully recreated by builder Mattias Søndergaard. You may recognize from the movie LA Confidential.

Pirate 100

Let's face it, City displays can get a little monotonous. Not to take anything away from the dedicated builders out there, but just like in real life, it tends to be box after box after box. But mix something like this graciously curved structure from lisqr among the buildings and wow! According to the minimal description this is called Pirate 100, but the interesting thing is that it's build on curving train track as it's base, that's some seriously out of the box (see what I did there?) thinking. I love the Seqway tour too.

Thanks for the head's up Vince.

A Night Without Day, A Day Without Night

The 80's were such a good time for movies. There were original stories, epic tales and imaginative filmmaking. Ladyhawke is a great example, and the inspiration for this phenomenal cathedral MOC by Pippo Zane. I strongly encourage you all to click through and check out many more pics (view in high-res, it's worth it) of this awesome structure and the occupants. 

Billund Airport

When I visited Billund in 2011 I was a bit shocked at the size of the airport. Billund itself is just a small, sleepy village in the middle of the countryside. If not for the presence of LEGO, you would hardly notice it from the air. This MOC by Everblack done in the Archtecture style is perfect. In fact, I'd dare say it could be packaged as-is and brought to market it's so good.

The Blacksmith's House

When you spend every day looking for notable MOCs it gets more and more rare that you say to yourself "that's cool, I've never seen that before". Well it happened this morning when I gazed upon this lovely little blacksmiths house by Simon S. The first thing that caught my attention was the cool purple shingled roof, but then I saw the walls festooned with all manner of armor and I was smitten.