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2WTC – 2 World Trade Center

In the description of the building, BIG states:

The design of 2 WTC is derived from its urban context at the meeting point between two very different neighborhoods: the Financial District with its modernist skyscrapers and TriBeCa with its lofts and roof gardens. The design combines the unique qualities of each, melding high-rise with lowrise and modern with historical. From the 9/11 Memorial, the building appears as a tall and slender tower just as its three neighboring towers, while the view from TriBeCa is of a series of stepped green terraces. The building is aligned along the axis of World Trade Center Master Planner Daniel Libeskind’s ‘Wedge of Light’ plaza to preserve the views to St. Paul’s Chapel from the Memorial park.

The model will be built by Rocco Buttliere:

Two World Trade Center is an 81-story skyscraper that is currently under construction in New York City. Its form is comprised of seven stacked masses which change shape as the building rises, each one cantilevered further away from the original footprint. This shifting profile resembles the lowrise building conditions throughout the local Tribeca neighborhood, while the solid profile facing the September 11th Memorial, serves as a solemn gesture to the legacy of the World Trade Center complex.

 

The first step in modeling this building was to carefully measure all the dimensions of each of the seven masses which will be stacked on top of one another. I drew several elevation and plan drawings in order to record these measurements and to refer back to while I design in LEGO Digital Designer. The model will be 1:650 scale, and so far, I have designed the second and third masses which you can see in the screenshots. The façade of the building will consist of thousands of trans-clear plates on the exterior, with medium blue plates and bricks on the interior. Putting the medium blue elements behind a layer of trans-clear plates will diffuse the blue color so it is less saturated and more accurate to the real-world appearance.

You may also notice a 2×2 hole through the middle of each of the masses. The location of this hole will allow for a continuous 2×2 beam made of technic elements to slide through the entire completed model, not only connecting all the masses together, but also providing a spine which will anchor the model to the base. It is important that the model be made of separate pieces in order to be transported easily, but it is also important that it be structurally sound when it is exhibited.

Rocco

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79&PARK – Finishing Touches

My LEGO model of 79&PARK is now complete and ready to be displayed in LEGO House in Billund, Denmark in April. I need to find time to take some decent photos before showing the full model.

The finishing touches included the inner courtyard which is largely based on this one photo from the project material.

The courtyard is somewhat more colorful than the roof terraces so I added a few extra colors to represent flowers including lime green and dark yellow. The main path through the courtyard is kept in light gray to match with the sidewalk.

Finally, the streets and alleys surrounding the building were designed. The site is rectangular except for one side and has streets on two sides. The greenery is taken from the below reference picture.

The streets are built in four sections corresponding to the four sides. They slide under the building and attach to each other with Technic pins. They are not attached to the building, however, which allows some flexibility to position the  building in the exact 45 degree angle.

Building the angled street was the most challenging. I ended up with a technique using rotated 1×1 bricks with stud on one side, clips and bars to ensure the right angle and distance between the sidewalk and the street as seen below.

The final street, with some splashes of dark yellow flowers.

I did experiment using some of the other part options for greenery on the final model (see previous post on greenery) but I decided to keep my initial choice using only the olive green and brown flower stem parts for trees and green and light green flowers for leaves all over the model. This gives some, but not too much, variation.

Similarly, I experimented with other grille colors for the lamellas but kept the original brown choice as it looked best. Quite possibly because I had gotten used to that color during the building process.

Stay tuned for photos of the finished model!

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HUA – Hualien Residences

A LEGO model of HUA will be build by ZiO Chao, Hsinwei Chi, and Kimura Hsieh.

In the description of the building, BIG states:

Hualien is a rapidly developing city located in the middle portion of Taiwan’s East coast. TLDC, a prominent land developer based in Taipei, has recently obtained license to turn what used to be an industrial and factory region into a world class beach resort. The site is located prominently along the coast and near the intersection of two river deltas. Taiwan’s spine of    ountains can be seen to the west while the coast is to the east; Hualien city is to the north.

For the masterplan, a language of green landscape stripes is used to create a mountain landscape of commercial and residential program that reflect their natural counterparts in the background. The stripes run east-west to frame the best views while also becoming an optimal shading system for Taiwan’s hot and humid tropical climate. High glare, low angle morning and evening sun is effortlessly blocked by the stripes while favorable north-south light is allowed into the units. Green roofs further mitigate heat gain and combined with the striping create a low energy masterplan.

Our layout is in modules, it can be separated to 14 sections and doze of baseplates. Our project model is close to be completed, but now we still have some detail to modify. Our model is about 145*145*40 (cm)