The Picture of Suburban Bliss

Aaron Newman July 20, 2021

I designed this replica of a private residence on commission. Although the client only paid me for digital deliverables—i.e., design services and instructions, but no physical bricks—I couldn’t resist splurging a little on parts to recreate my finished product in real life, with a few modifications of my own to “spruce up” the build. Yes, that was a pun, because yes, the addition of a towering redwood tree in the backyard was one of my biggest add-ons!

This 360-degree home recreation also features fully realized, furnished interior spaces, making it perhaps the most in-depth structural recreation I have ever completed at this size. Keeping balance between external and internal was a fun puzzle to solve, and while I was battling for space much of the time, I’m pleased with and proud of the final result.

Read on to learn more about the design choices behind this build, and to check out all the rooms of the house!

"Here's the Story... of a Lovely Lady..."

Aaron Newman May 20, 2020

I designed this famous house from The Brady Bunch (1969-74) on commission. Before beginning work, I hadn’t even listened to the show’s catchy theme! However, I very quickly came to realize that merely speaking the first few lyrics of that song will send many people into paroxysms of nostalgia. The Brady Bunch is a landmark show beloved by millions, and the Bradys’ iconic house now a tourist attraction that is the second-most photographed house in the United States. It was a real treat for me to replicate and recreate a truly meaningful piece of American pop culture.

I love tackling the challenges unique to replicating architecture in brick form, and this home posed more than just those delicious run-of-the-mill puzzles. You see, I was set to model a house that technically never had, and never will, exist. My model of the Bradys’ house—the combination of an amalgam of sources—required a good deal of compromise, research, and imagination to reach its finished form. Read on to learn more about the design choices behind this project!

North Shore, Chattanooga

Aaron Newman April 22, 2020

I built this replica of a private residence on commission. This house, nicknamed “North Shore Chattanooga” by its owner, is a gorgeous piece of architecture that was a blast to replicate in bricks!

I am extremely proud of this little model, which I think packs in a great deal of accuracy and detail despite its small size. Learn more about the design choices I made on my replica of North Shore Chattanooga by reading on.

Behind-The-Build: Storybook Challenge

Aaron Newman March 20, 2020

In Episode 7 of LEGO Masters, “Storybook” (3/18/2020), all the teams were presented with an identical, Mad Lib-style story, the blanks of which had been filled in creatively by a group of kids. For the challenge, each team had to present their own recreation of this zany tale involving a “book chicken,” a “horse that can do gymnastics,” a “Taker-Waker,” and more.

For our model, Christian and I chose to build the interior of the Taker-Waker’s house, which the storybook specified as being messy and full of stolen toys. This setting choice, however, turned out to be a bad one. Our decision to build an enclosed structure literally boxed us in, and guided us towards manifesting a more realistic interpretation of the “Land of Koo Koo Magic” than other teams. Unfortunately, this stylistic direction left the Brickmasters cold. On top of this, since we took the story at face value, we intentionally built a cluttered house… but ended up with an unintentionally messy-looking build.

Ultimately, our entry for the storybook challenge landed us in the bottom two teams for the first time. Although Christian and I weren’t eliminated, this was still my least favorite build of the season. Read on for my special dissection of this model’s process, design choices, and more.

Behind-The-Build: Arch & Truss Bridge

Aaron Newman March 13, 2020

For Episode 6 of LEGO Masters, “Need for Speed/Super Bridge” (3/12/2020), Christian and I created the “Arch & Truss” bridge, a double-support structure built to span a 6’ (183cm) gap and hold as much weight as possible.

This 7-hour challenge put teams’ engineering expertise to the test. With so little time to work and a blatantly quantitative assessment at the challenge’s end, there was very little room for error in this challenge. Every choice we made could be the one that catapulted us to victory… or else sent us to the bottom. The stakes were high even without the Golden Brick being up for grabs once more!

Read on for my special dissection of this model’s process, design choices, and more.

Behind-The-Build: Attack on Sustainable City

Aaron Newman March 6, 2020

For Episode 5 of LEGO Masters, “Mega City Block” (3/4/2020), Christian and I created “Attack on Sustainable City,” an environmentally-minded city block under threat by an enormous pollution monster.

This build—which was divided into a 14 hour first part and a 4-hour second part—was a huge emotional roller coaster for me. As we wheeled our build into the gallery during the final two minutes of part one, our table hit a brick on the floor, sending a shock wave up the tall tower and toppling five of its fourteen stories. This catastrophic collapse felt like the lowest of lows… until we got an extremely lucky twist!

In part two of the challenge, during which we were instructed to put our city blocks “under attack,” Christian and I managed to both rebuild our fallen tower and create an iconic monster of which we were quite proud. Our finished model definitely made its mark; it turned out to be the tallest building of all.

“Attack on Sustainable City” landed us in the top two teams for this week. Read on for my special dissection of this model’s process, design choices, and more.