The layer with the windows mostly has 1 x 2 bricks (tan and trans black) placed perpendicular to the walls. Now, let us look at the two layers of bricks that make up each floor (with a total height of 2 bricks or 6 plates). Instead of 42 floors I ended up having 42 x 5/6 = 35 floors in the main tower (the floor count in all the other sections had to be scaled down in a similar manner). In order to use 6 plates instead of 5 for each floor, and still maintain the correct proportions, I needed to scale down the number of floors in the main tower. This is the only instance (out of all the skyscraper models I have designed) where I was forced to compromise on getting the floor count accurate in my model. With 1 x 1 bricks used for the accents, we would have 2 bricks or 6 plates per floor (assuming we use trans black bricks for the windows themselves). If you recall from Part I, the 1/230 scale we are using calls for 5 plates per floor. Using this “corner” brick I can attach 1 x 1 x 5 or 1 x 1 x 3 bricks in the corners. This creates a 2 x 2 corner brick that combines two different colors (in this case I am using Dark Bluish Gray for the window accents). It involves attaching 1 x 1 bricks with studs on 2 adjacent sides to 1 x 1 technic bricks with holes. It would be considered illegal (strictly speaking) but works well enough. ![]() When I originally designed this model, I decided to focus on finding a solution for the corners, and here is the technique I came up with. It is still not clear what we can do about the corners where we will need tall stacks of 1 x 1 bricks with no easy way to attach them to the main structure. But if we were to make our walls two studs thick, we can have bricks or plates placed horizontally in the inner layer that is hidden from view. These would span the entire height of the tower and there would be no way to add any tan horizontal cross-members (needed to hold the model together) at least in the outer layer of bricks. In LEGO terms, if we were to use tan for the wall color, we would only see tall stacks of tan bricks that are 1-stud wide between the banks of windows on the outside of the model. ![]() Looking at pictures of the Empire State Building, we see that the windows alternating with the gray accent panels form unbroken vertical lines on the exterior of the building. Next, we look at how the walls of the main tower are actually built. We had determined the scale ( 1/230) we were going to be using for the model and what that translated to, in terms of LEGO dimensions for the main tower ( 30 x 22 studs). This is done more out of necessity than anything else, because the small scale they are using doesn’t allow for regular walls created by stacking bricks.Ĭontinuing with my process for designing LEGO models of skyscrapers, we return to the example I was using in Part I – the “main tower” of the Empire State State Building. They have internal structures usually built out of technic elements, wrapped with external facades that are composed of plates and other elements like 1 x 2 grille tiles. The 1/650 scale models of skyscrapers built by Spencer Rezkalla and Rocco Buttliere hew closer to real skyscrapers in terms of how they are built. ![]() The reason of course, is that it is a lot easier with LEGO to simply stack bricks, than it is to try to mimic the structure of a real skyscraper. The models are hollow for the most part, with no internal framework to support the walls. ![]() Ironically, my LEGO models of skyscrapers are built very much like conventional masonry structures with walls created by stacking bricks. These exterior walls form the facade of the building but don’t actually support any weight. Instead, they have a steel framework to which “curtain walls” made of brick, stone or glass are attached. Michigan Avenue (John Hancock Center)ĭo you know how modern skyscrapers are different from the tall buildings that preceded them (like the Philadelphia City Hall which was the tallest building in the world from 1894 to 1908) ? Unlike masonry-built tall buildings, skyscrapers don’t have load-bearing walls. Different versions of Empire State Building.
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