This post was selected for inclusion in our Future of Art and Work series in December 2016. The series, sponsored by Microsoft Surface, selects some of our best posts exploring the topics of how art and work will look in the 21st century. This post was originally published in March, 2016.
Arndt Schlaudraff does not call himself an artist. He’s not even an architect. He’s got a background in advertising and now works as a marketing buyer for a pharmaceutical company. And yet, he’s managed to create LEGO recreations of modern and Brutalist architecture that are so stunning you’d wish you could shrink down and live in them.
Schlaudraff’s hobby of creating architecture with LEGO started with the official architecture kits released by company, but, finding the selection too limited, he moved on to creating his own models with LEGO’s Architecture Studio kit. He’s since used it to recreate works by Eero Saarinen, Herzog & de Meuron, Corbusier, Louis Kahn, and Giuseppe Perugini. He’s even created his own terrace house design.
The works are weirdly beautiful in their stark settings, and Schlaudraff photographs them in a way that makes them look like they exist in a miniature version of the real world, complete with sports cars.
Schlaudraff makes new works every day and posts them to his Instagram account — the popularity of which, he says, is constantly surprising. But have a look at some highlights from his project in our gallery, and you’ll understand the appeal immediately.
Image credit: Arndt Schlaudraff
Lecture Center at Brunel University by Richard Sheppard and Robson and Partner Architects
Image credit: Arndt Schlaudraff
Milwaukee War Memorial Center by Eero Saarinen
Image credit: Arndt Schlaudraff
Milwaukee War Memorial Center by Eero Saarinen
Image credit: Arndt Schlaudraff
Terrace House, an original by Arndt Schlaudraff
Image credit: Arndt Schlaudraff
Herbert F. Johnson Museum by I.M. Pei
Image credit: Arndt Schlaudraff
Tate Modern Gallery in London by Herzog & de Meuron
Image credit: Arndt Schlaudraff
Salk Institute by Louis Kahn
Image credit: Arndt Schlaudraff
Salk Institute by Louis Kahn
Image credit: Arndt Schlaudraff
Casa Sperimentale by Giuseppe Perugini