Despite being toys, Legos inspire amazing creations. LEGO artists make use of the tiny plastic bricks to produce everything from architecture to robots. Even the company’s engineers design new components that let builders to create more intricate models. Erik Varszegi is a Master Builder at the Lego Group, Billund, Denmark. He has designed a brand new element to be used this year, the curving slope. It allows Lego users to design more slanted shapes while staying within the company’s strict colour palette. The slopes can be used to create more dynamic shapes, for example, a curving staircase.
While some Lego designs are the creations of professional designers, other designs are the result of the well-known Lego Ideas set-design program. The Ideas line lets anyone create a set, and it can be produced. It grants fame and 1percent of sales to any designer who convinces a crowd of 10,000 people that their design is worthy to be made. It’s not surprising that the more extravagant and impressive sets are the ones that garner the most support especially when they include iconic scenes or characters from TV shows, movies or from the real world.
Among the best Lego designs are two iconic space-themed models that include the NASA space shuttle Discovery and an image of the Hubble Telescope. Each telescope comes with a plaque for display and miniature Lego version of the inventor. Other impressive models are the framed rainbow, steampunk dragon as well as a replica of the Palace of Westminster.
