Lego Architecture Фонтан Треви (21020) [138/144] Architecture in the 1960s

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The “Scale Model” Line –

LEGO

Architecture in the 1960s

The history of the current LEGO

Architecture

Series can be traced back to the beginning

of the 1960s, when the popularity of the LEGO

brick was steadily increasing. Godtfred Kirk

Christiansen, the then owner of the company,

began looking for ways to further expand the

LEGO system and asked his designers to

come up with a set of components that would

add a new dimension to LEGO building.

Their answer was as simple as it was

revolutionary: five elements that matched the

existing bricks, but were only one-third the

height. These new building ‘‘plates’’ made it

possible to construct more detailed models

than before.

This greater LEGO flexibility seemed to

match the spirit of the age; modernist

architects were redefining how houses

looked and people were taking an active

interest in the design of their new homes. It

was these trends that led to the introduction

of the LEGO “Scale Model” Line in early 1962.

The name itself was a direct link to the way

architects and engineers worked, and it was

hoped that they and others would build their

projects “to scale” in LEGO elements. As

with LEGO Architecture today, the original

sets were designed to be different from the

normal, brightly colored LEGO boxes, and

also included “An Architectural Book’’ for

inspiration.

Although the five elements remain an integral

part of the LEGO building system today, the

“Scale Model” Line was phased out in 1965.

Many of the principles from the series would

re-emerge over 40 years later in the LEGO

Architecture Series.

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