One of the best things about being on vacation is doing nothing. Just strolling through foreign villages, admiring the surroundings, looking at the locals going their business, going for a nice cold beer on one of the many terraces, and visiting some shops buying stuff you don’t need. I get all these sweet vibes from the Mediterranean Town Square made by Snaillad (also known as Andrew Tate).

Even though it is winter in half the world and many of us have been unable to travel like that the last two years, it is great to escape through someone else’s LEGO build. Andrew was kind enough to take us through the process of building this sunny street!

Marco: Thanks for chatting with BrickNerd! At first glance, I see you use a hybrid mix of styles. What kind of references do you use for a building like this? Movies, photos, maybe even visited some places that inspired you?

Andrew: I sometimes use old holiday photos if I have been somewhere that has really inspired me. I tend to use a search engine, Pinterest, etc. to try and find more information and locations about a particular style. Then it’s off to Google Street View where it is available for some more research. In this case, there is no direct copy from real life that I know of this scene, but I knew I wanted three buildings and for them to all be a different style.

Marco: Most of your modulars are corner buildings, does this have certain advantages that you like when building?

Andrew: I tend to make corner plots—and in some cases made from several buildings—as I don't particularly like the idea of seeing a big grey slab on the side which would be the 'internal' wall. Most of my buildings are more of a facade with limited structural support at the side and back. Anything I can do to hide this is preferred, even if it is building a whole other building on the side to cover it!

Marco: How long does a building like this take you to build? Do you sometimes start over completely or just partially? Maybe even work on more than one building at once?

Andrew: I only have room for a couple of bigger MOCs around my desk at one time so I only build one at a time. I would say it generally takes a couple of months from start to finish to complete a MOC. Once I've started one I have to finish it—it doesn't get put on hiatus but I sometimes draw a blank on how I'll proceed. I may spend a week making very little progress only putting a handful of bricks together but once I'm back on track I'll keep going. I work with what I have so sometimes solutions have to be simple but I have to admit that plenty of techniques are over-engineered and overly complex for a minimal improvement on something simple.

Marco: Does it have interiors? Things can partially be seen through open doors and windows? Or is the focus more on the outside/on the architecture?

Andrew: This town square doesn't really have interiors, mainly just inside the restaurant for what you can see with a few tables and chairs. My focus, in this case, was to try and create something with the feeling of 'Piazza Maria' but with some more interesting techniques and textures on the facades. I started making MOCs with an open-backed dolls house construction which I prefer to modular buildings where you would remove each floor. I found it easier to see the details from the side rather than top-down. I now tend to just build a single interior floor that is removable so I can concentrate on it after the main building and I don't have to take into consideration any structural issues integrating it into the build.

Marco: Not many builders use the classic smiley faces anymore, you still use them. Is this like an homage to the classic modulars or do you just like the use them as any other minifig.

Andrew: I always prefer classic smileys! It's all I had in the late 80s and early 90s when I was getting my first sets. I think every new modular should still have at least one classic smiley.

Marco: Do you keep all your building MOCs in one place so you have a whole street? Or just some, because I can see it uses up quite a lot of bricks?

Andrew: I sadly don't have room for a street of huge buildings so I have to be more creative and force my ideas into a smaller space.

Marco: One last question. Are you working on a new building at the moment?

Andrew: I don't have any projects on the go at present, I have one idea I'd like to get out by the end of the year - depending on time. I'm hoping it'll come together fairly quickly as it's a period house interior.

Marco: Well, we sure are looking forward to seeing another modular coming from you, thanks for your time!

Do you prefer corner buildings and do they need interiors? Let us know in the comments!

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