Review - LEGO Architecture - The Visual Guide

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Being a lifetime LEGO fan, an architecture enthusiast, and someone who enjoys DK books in general, I was pleased to get my hands on a copy of the latest ode to LEGO products; The LEGO Architecture book - The Visual Guide by Philip Wilkinson. This is probably the most coffee-table worthy LEGO book we have in our collection, to date, with its substantial size, thickness, square shape, and slide in case. 

This book depicts almost all of the LEGO Architecture sets ever made, giving facts, background, and design commentary from the LEGO artists on each model, as well as photos, exploded views, and pictures of the original landmarks and buildings. 

LEGO Architecture sets are tiny scale models of actual buildings. The designers make sacrifices and decisions to represent the iconic details of each structure using the most basic LEGO elements while still making the final model as recognizable as the the real thing. 

I must admit, I only have a few of these models, and I much prefer their concept and packaging (they come in these really sharp black and white LEGO boxes) to the actual LEGO models, which are small, simplistic, and lack all the cute elements that are in sets like my current passion, LEGO Disney Princess Sets. In some ways, though, I wish I had purchased all of them, because I think they would make a fantastic visual collection, and thumbing through this book, I really do like the series of models when they are all together like this. 

The LEGO Architecture book is an excellent book for LEGO collectors that are specifically fans of these sets, or who enjoy building to this scale on their own. For someone who has to have everything LEGO and loves books, this could be an essential part of the collection. This is also a perfect gift for an architect, architecture student, or someone who enjoys landmarks and travel. This book also makes a great conversation piece or can add just the right touch to the coffee table as a focal point in a room. 

This is not a book for children, unless they have a particular affinity for these sets, architecture, or this genre of LEGO building. I still would have preferred the LEGO Idea book or something a little more creative with models that were scaled to the size of the minifigures when I was a child. However, this book looks amazing on my bookcase, right now.

You can get The LEGO Architecture book on Amazon.com or any fine bookstore.