Gamification is not universally accepted or respected. However, LEGO and architecture go together like peanut butter and chocolate. There’s no need to convince architects. They’ve been on board for a while. Though I wasn’t exactly toy deprived as a child, LEGOs will forever hold the place of honor among the playmobil, action figures, pirate and knight costumes, and video games (I was a tomboy. Deal with it.) I can’t say that my early and lasting LEGO passion led me to my career – correlation doesn’t equal causation – but there is clearly some significant correlation here.
So when UMW announced PTAC grants, I figured: why not give it a try? LEGO have plenty of recognition in architecture and engineering circles, as I noted above. So why not in urban design? Long story short: I applied and got the grant. Ordering appropriate and versatile sets was a challenge in itself. I will likely blog about that later, when I get a better idea of how well I chose.
Among the sets I chose is the LEGO Architecture Studio (LAS). I figured this would be a good place to start what will likely be a series of blog posts on this whole LEGO experiment. So, without further ado, here’s an overview of that set.
I did not fetishistically unbox the LAS set. Ok, I did ooh and aah but didn’t record it. Others have, if you’re into that. I’ll admit I thought quite a bit about this set over the last few months. But for my own use, this is VERY expensive. Plus, it sold out almost instantly, so I wasn’t able to even look at it at a LEGO store (I’m a VIP member. Surprised?) Luckily, when the grant deadline for spending funds approached, the LEGO website got a new shipment and I ordered 5. This seemed like a good number for a class of 14-15 people, plus anyway it’s the maximum allowed in a single order. I am mostly very happy with what I found in the set. (Update: they are out of the set again. Glad I ordered when I did!)
The set includes mostly white pieces and about 10% clear ones (it totals 1210 pieces). There are also trays included in the box, and a surprisingly impressive book. 
My early thoughts, in no particular order:
– the whites are all a little different, actually. Not sure if that’s on purpose or not, but it’s nice. It allows you to tell them apart easier and adds some dimension to creations.
– apparently, the all-white set made me have Eero Saarinen delusions. (See left.)
– there are tons of small plates of varying size included in the set. These are often lacking in regular sets, and it makes for a fun and much easier time making topography.
– the lack of color isn’t really a problem. My husband almost immediately noted: “the all-white pieces make you focus on form instead of color”. Couldn’t have said it better myself. It didn’t bother my 4yo either. Within minutes she was making a “princess spaceship”.
– that said, for urban design purposes, the lack of shapes that say “tree” and other natural features is limiting. I dealt with that by buying some nature elements separately.
– similarly, this set doesn’t have plates big enough for cityscapes. Also easily solved with some additional pieces.
– two complaints: (1) while the box has a Jony Ive minimalism to it, the storage bins are woefully inadequate. They are too small to hold all the included pieces, and they don’t even stack. This seems like a huge lost opportunity. Seriously, why not partner with IKEA and make some Nordic flat-pack awesomeness? (2) there is no brick separator included. Considering the price of the set and that the whole point of something like this is to build, take apart, repeat, this seems particularly cheap on LEGO’s part. Or maybe they have a secret deal with dentists.
– the book really is good. I haven’t read it cover-to-cover yet but it includes sections from major architecture firms like SOM discussing architectural form. There’s also a very abstract and useful section at the end teaching some LEGO basics. I may assign some of this reading to my students.
Before purchasing this set, I thought I might break it apart and fold it into the larger LEGO collection. But I’ve changed my mind. I think this set – with added larger plates and greenery, as mentioned above – will make for some fantastic urban design brainstorming. Only time will tell. Stay tuned.
A recent conference interaction made me completely rethink gamification…I was never really that into the idea, it sounded overly simple, and someone there was like, “eh, I want to problematize this idea of giving badges to online commenters,” blah, blah, and I was like, you know, it’s all a game. You saying “problematize” right now is a game you are playing. We all play some kind of game. If it’s in human nature and we acknowledge it, then that shifts the connotation of “game” away from being simple/silly/non-serious. LEGO are a perfect example of this–they seem to be developing into a kind of a symbol of your identity and work in a way…you engage with them and use them as a kind of framework for your teaching and learning (even as a bridge–see what I did there–to how you teach your much-younger students!), and that is such a useful model for students to see and learn from.