Tour De Paris

Ahh, Paris, the city of lights and love. In this wonderful depiction by Markus Rollbühler you can almost hear the sound of the cafes and see the Eiffel Tower rising above the buildings in the distance. The smell of fresh bread and coffee fills your nose as you walk past a bakery and as you walk over a bridge you can hear and smell the Seine, which is not a pleasant as the bread but is almost as beautiful. You walk past a restaurant and… wait, is that a rat cooking? It must have been your imagination. After all, Paris is a magical place.

New Century City Block Continued

I don't know the full extent of the plans for this whimsical city by builder Pate-keetongu, we featured another section three months ago. But if he keeps building, we'll keep blogging because it's absolutely jaw-dropping. It's like a combination of past and future design aesthetics, with a little Terry Gilliam mixed in. I want to watch the stories that unfold here.

Agony, to a Point

Jan T. shares this incredible scene that takes place in a dystopian time. I feel like large, full scenes like this are not as common these days, and it appears that Jan agrees with that perspective. I'm really glad that he was able to create this awesome model that spares no detailing. Check out his other great builds on his Flickr! 

The Sci-fi City of Oz

Built for Brickworld Chicago 2018, Hacim Bricks made this awesome sci-fi city that is purely the definition of greebles, but greebling used to great and powerful effect. I was fortunate enough to see the very start of this build last year, but I never fully imagined how big or cool this would turn out once it was brought to completion by its builder! As to be expected with any creation like this, there are many small parts used in creative ways. What's your favorite use?!

Cloud City

Who wouldn't want to visit this tranquil city in the clouds by builder did b? That is of course if you don't mind flying, because there's no elevator to this place. I can't imagine a runway being much of an option either, so it's either lighter than air craft, or helicopter. My preference would be dirigible, getting there would be half the fun.

New Century City Block 2: Electric Bugaloo

Ok, that's not really the name of this MOC by Pate-keetongu, it's just where my sophomoric, forever 80's brain goes whenever I see a sequel with a "2". The funny part is, while this is a sequel, the original hasn't been posted, we'll just have to wait and see what that is. Anyway, this entire block is chock full of marvelous details, interesting architectural style and irresistible appeal. I want to visit this place.

Escadas Apartamentos

This is a fascinating building design. I have to assume it's divided as asymmetrically inside as it is outside. The stepped design (literally "stairs apartment") means that every story is smaller than the one under it, but if it's divided into two apartments on the lower levels, then singles, then multistory apartments on top, then it totally works. Regardless it's a beautiful building tkel86.

Do You Need Waste Removed? I Know a Truck. . .

I think some creations that deserve more recognition then they receive are well-built city vehicles for minifigs, such as this garbage truck by De-marco. With some simple experimentation, and even by using basic elements, you can create excellently scaled (and detailed, too) vehicles for your city layouts! If you're a city builder, you need to check out this creative truck (it even has a working feature!). 

"Long Haul"

So you look at the first picture and you think "cool, a dump truck". It reminds me of my big Tonka when I was a kid, and seems like it would be right at home with other LEGO City sets. Then you get to the second picture and get your mind blown, this baby transforms! Builder Cpt. Brick not only nailed the City look, he nailed the Transformers look. As awesome as it is though, I think my favorite thing about these shots is the minifigs casually enjoying coffee in the shadow of the robot.

Brickhills Ave

Here's a little dose of some retro goodness from builder Snarled. Inspired by the art deco buildings in Los Angeles, he created a fictional but fun city corner shop. Although likely designed in the 30's and 40's, Snaillad set this in the 60's, mostly to take advantage of those groovy hair pieces from Scooby Doo and the like. 

Architectural Blues

To me, some modern buildings look like they were designed on a Friday afternoon, in the dark,  just before the rush out the door and down the road to the pub! Some, on the other hand have style, grace and presence. This Modern Apartment block by Lisqr has a lot of style indeed. lots of shiny blue walls and neat details such as the railings, but realistic and simple too. This wouldn't look out of place in an Architects studio

Homeless

I try to keep things light here at BrickNerd (it's supposed to be a short escape from your daily grind) but this MOC by LEGOMINDED is as much social commentary as it is beautifully built. It should serve as a reminder that mental health is at a near crisis level here in the US. I'm not saying every homeless person is suffering mental problems, but it's sad there are so many people on the streets that are in need of help, and society turns a blind eye.

Cyberpunk Tripartite

I learned a new term today, "tripartite". It's an architectural term relating to the use of rougher and inferior building materials on lower floors (where the peasants can touch them, ew!) and becoming more refined as you build up. Combine this fascinating concept with steampunk and you've got this awesome MOC by Groovybones.

Whole Lotta Pizza

This is all kinds of clever. When builder koffiemoc accepts a challenge, he goes all out. These were all build for a revamp contest on lowlug.nl. He decided to build interpretations of LEGO 6350 Pizza To Go, and did so in the styles of City, Friends, Pirates, Wild West, Roman, Castle and my personal favorite, Star Wars. Yes, that sign is in Aurebesh.

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.

Music Teacher Townhouse

I am not a very musically gifted person and, despite many attempts to correct this, I will probably forever be that way. I do, however, appreciate some good tunes and the skill of those that perform it.

When it comes to LEGO bricks, I enjoy unique subject matter and zaberca's Music Teacher Townhouse fits the build (pun intended). The contrast between the brick on the front of this building along with the excellent use of flat white tiles for framing really make this creation for me and could easily be part of the LEGO modular town sets. Make sure to check out the details on the inside of the building as the musicians practice their instruments.

Gunnlöð

Gunnlöð (gunled) is a concept of future heavy equipment. And I'd say the future looks awesome. Imagine watching a construction site with a few of these quadruped behemoths moving earth and lumbering about, fascinating. Nice one Izzo.