It's no breaking news that architects and designers dig Legos. Many outgrow their obsessions with the Danish toys, but the best of enthusiasts hang onto their infatuations even years after growing up. And thank goodness for the plastic-brick-inclined; without Lego fanatics there would be a dearth of 20,000-brick Batcaves and Lego haunted houses. And while miniature architectural masterpieces are a joy to behold, life-sized Lego structures built for bona-fide adults are even better. For example, British industrial designer Sebastian Bergne created a Lego greenhouse. Bergne constructed this transparent house made with 100K pieces in the middle of London's Covent Garden during the 2011 London Design Festival. A peek inside the glowing structure reveals flourishing (and very real) vegetables and flowers growing out of—what else?—a bed of brown Lego pieces. Says Bergne, per the release: "It's an everyday function, made of a material we know, in an ordinary environment, but together they make something extraordinary."
? Parisian designers Simon Pillard and Philippe Rosetti (together they form the design firm Munchausen) personalized and spiffed up their Ikea kitchen island by covering it with more than 20,000 Legos. Not sure if that's super sanitary, but, hey, it looks awesome, which was probably the point.
? In 2009, James May—he of BBC show Top Gear—built the world's first full-sized Lego house. With 3.3M bricks, the rather awesome structure featured a Lego bed, a working Lego toilet, and a Lego shower, all amidst its two Lego stories. Built by 1,000 volunteers in Surrey, England, the 20-foot abode, dubbed "the full-size Lego house nobody wants"—speak for yourself, Daily Mail—was disassembled later that year, the millions of blocks given to charity.
? And then there is, of course, this Lego staircase installed in one fun-loving couple's 1,500-square-foot Manhattan apartment. The homeowners enlisted I-BEAM Architecture and Queens-based Lego artist Sean Kenney to realize their dream of infusing their home with a "geometric, abstract design." Kenney and two assistants took some 140 hours to piece together the tens of thousands of blocks.
? OK, OK, OK, so this isn't bridge isn't actually made from giant Lego bricks, but it's a cool project nonetheless. As part of an urban renewal project, street artist Martin Heauwold painted the bridge in Germany to look as if it's composed of mega-Legos.
? Because the boardroom is an entirely appropriate place to break out the Legos, ABGC Architecture and Design created this nine-foot-long table top for Dublin-based ad agency Boys and Girls from 22,742—an impressively exact number—plastic bricks.
· Guy Builds World's First Lego Greenhouse Using 100K Pieces [Curbed National]
· James May and His Full-Size Lego House Nobody Wants. [Daily Mail]
· Lego Kitchen [Cool Hunter]
· Amazing Boardroom Lego Table [Inhabitots]
· LEGOs Hack Bridge in Germany [Arch Daily]
· All Lego Coverage [Curbed National]
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