architect_cover-front-sm-600x600This book is published at just the right time with the growing interest in makerspaces and tinkering. As with our learning commons, it is big on multi-tasking and adaptability. The title has a wide appeal whether for Art and Social Science teachers as well as your average Lego® enthusiast.

The first sections, dedicated to the Preface and A Brief history of Architecture, are well written and do much to underscore the author’s intent and enthusiasm for the subject.

As well as being a book about building with the beloved bricks, it also covers a wide range of architectural styles of houses or larger buildings through the ages. The text is easy to follow and presented in a large neat font. The writing is spare and to the point. There is just enough details in the text to give basic information while encouraging further research. Each architectural style is generously illustrated with colourful models or photographs of existing buildings.

The book is chock-full of building instructions to be used with Lego® bricks. For the most part, the plans use parts that are that are readily available in basic Lego® kits. A few models will need parts that can be found in the Lego® Architecture Studio sets. The author went as far as providing a link to a complete list of Lego® bricks required for each model found in the book as well as some additional content, as if the proposed models were not enough…

The plans are easy to follow and illustrated in shades of grey. The page layout is simple and uncluttered. The text that accompanies the plans covers the main architectural features of each style of building as well as a list of parts. The hyper visual are well served!

The last part of the book offers a Builder’s Guide that covers ideas, the concepts of scale, form, detail and colour. This section ends with ideas about choosing and organizing bricks. Check out the sidebars that offer information about the artists who built many of the models found in the books while giving some insight into their passion for building with Lego® bricks.

The sections dedicated to the Preface and A Brief history of Architecture, are well written and do much to underscore the author’s intent. There is an index and a solid bibliography at the end of the book as well as some related websites. The book will appeal to both to secondary students as well as the upper grades of the elementary. This hardcover title is solidly bound, which is great as it is certain to become a go-to title in your library!

Title: The Lego® Architect

Author: Alphin, Tom

Publisher: No Starch Press

ISBN: 978-1-59327-613-3

-Suzanne Nesbitt