All Lord of the Rings fans should get excited about the new LEGO set themed on Barad-dûr, Sauron’s iconic stronghold. The 5,471-piece set features the sinister tower topped with the Eye of Sauron, the disembodied eye that overlooks his evil domain. Those who’ve watched the movie will instantly remember it as the “giant black tower with the flaming eye on top of it.”

This set will come at a price tag of $500 with availability to commence from June 1 for LEGO Insiders and from June 4 onwards for other buyers. The Barad-dûr tower will have four main sections – a prison, armory, throne room and a kitchen. Those who’ll get their hands on the set on or before 7 also get the complementary 269-piece Fell beast set with posable wings for the intimidating flying creature and the Nazul minifigure.

Designer: LEGO Ideas

The 32.5-inch tall and 11 inches wide Barad-dûr set has references to the movie in the form of Easter Eggs filled inside the interiors. Minifigures including Sauron, Mouth of Sauron, Sam, Gothmog and Orc also grace the build. Sections of the set include a pair of mechanically operated front doors and a dark throne that hides the secret room of the Palantir. There’s a forger for sharpening the weapons of destruction, a lava pit with a suspended skeleton cage and feasting for orcs. The top of the tower opens to reveal the throne room with a hidden map and ladder to access the top floor. In the middle of the structure is the feast table and orc armory. At the bottom of the tower, there’s a working door.

Frodo is not forgotten with the stolen Mithril coat and the hidden map, while Shelob has a tiny spider to complete the details. Interestingly the LEGO set can be stacked with more modular pieces to increase the height of the already towering structure that is even more impressive (and taller) than the Rivendell set which is the last official Lord of Rings set by LEGO. The tower is topped by a replica of the Eye of Sauron having a light-up brick to cast a subtle glow in your den.

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It’s really quite extraordinary how there is a wonderful LEGO build for almost everything out there. Whether it’s a bowl of ramen, a scene from the show Friends, or even the Batmobile – honestly you can find LEGO’s adorable tendrils creeping almost everywhere, and we absolutely love it! So, it is a given that LEGO will eventually find itself in the prestigious and beautiful world of art. In this collection of LEGO builds, we’ve curated LEGO creations based on iconic paintings! From da Vinci’s Mona Lisa to the iconic Greate Wave of Kanagawa – we’ve curated a collection of beautiful LEGO builds inspired by tremendous works of art.

1. The Great Wave Of Kanagawa

One of the most iconic and beloved paintings in the art world is The Great Wave of Kanagawa. It is a significant and precious hallmark of Japan’s Ukioy-e art movement, and LEGO Art has recreated a LEGO version utilizing plastic blocks and a brick count of 1810 pieces. The piece includes a special brick with the artist Hokusai’s signature. The build includes multiple dot-shaped bricks which impart the painting with a pointillism effect.

2. Girl With A Pearl Earring

Made from 1619 LEGO bricks, the ‘Girl with a Pearl Earring’ LEGO build perfectly replicates the painting, and has some actual depth to it. Since LEGO bricks were used to build the piece, it does lack some of the finer details, but this is what makes it even more charming and unique. The girl in the build has the same blue and yellow headscarf, and a contemplative expression paired up with the pretty pearl earring which is the star feature of the painting.

3. The Scream

Edvard Munch’s The Scream painting was converted into an intriguing LEGO build! It perfectly captures the anxiety and fear Munch wanted to create in his painting, around 130 years ago. Created by LEGO builder Spacemanship, the build is made using 2999 pieces. He wanted to give people suffering from anxiety an outlet or channel for their emotions, and he really did a great job with this LEGO kit. The LEGO Ideas submission garnered a 10,000 votes milestone, and will soon be converted into a buyable LEGO kit.

4. The Portrait of a Woman in a Hat

Made by LEGO user Mecesoo, this intriguing brick-based portrait captures and recreates the essence of Picasso’s stroke by using colorful plastic bricks instead. The portrait is built using 1070 bricks without any loose bricks or collisions. The build is almost true in size to the original, hence serving as a brilliant replica. The painting is teamed up with a Minifigure of Picasso, an easel with his canvas on it, as well as two Picasso quotes with the artist’s signature.

5. LEGO Van Gogh’s Sunflowers

Van Gogh’s sunflowers become quite popular on Instagram, garnering a whole lot of attention. And LEGO master builder Chi Hsin Wei converted it into a stunning LEGO rendition. The pretty MOC includes a frame, and a fantastic three-dimensional rendition of the painting, with the flowers popping out of the canvas, and welcoming you with their simple beauty and charm.

6. The Starry Night

The Starry Night LEGO Set is based on Vincent van Gogh’s namesake painting. It is a 3D representation of the iconic oil-on-canvas painting by the Dutch Post-Impressionist painter. The build is another product of a LEGO designer’s imagination being put into production, and being converted to reality from an idea. This final production set is up for purchase, and LEGO lovers can create their own Starry Night recreation.

7. Mona Lisa

Leonardo da Vinci’s Mona Lisa is brought to LEGO life with the LEGO® Art Mona Lisa (31213) painting building kit. You can recreate your own interpretation of da Vinci’s iconic painting. It features a bluer hue to reflect the colors that were used by da Vinci around 500 years ago, before paint evolved and changed with time. It serves as a beautiful wall art, or even as a lovely home decor gift for art lovers.

8. Andy Warhol’s Marilyn Monroe Portrait

The LEGO Art 31197 Andy Warhol’s Marilyn Monroe is for all the Andy Warhol and Marilyn Monroe fans out there! This fascinating set lets you recreate Andy Warhol’s famous pop art portrait of Marilyn Monroe. Once completed, the build features an exclusive signature tile and can be displayed as art on a wall or shelf. You are able to reproduce and recreate the iconic, mass-reproduced piece of pop art from the 1960s.

The post 8 Fascinating LEGO Builds Based On Iconic Paintings That Art Aficionados Cannot Miss first appeared on Yanko Design.

There is still an ongoing conversation (debate) amongst educators, parents, and psychologists on the amount of screen time that we should allow kids to have. Of course there’s a balance between screens and offline activities although that’s pretty hard to achieve. It’s also hard to wean this generation away from their devices but one way is to provide alternative activities for them at school and especially at home. And maybe, we can even get them to create their own alternatives.

Designer: Pupils from The Piggot School

The winner for this year’s Design Museum’s Design Ventura competition may be a fun alternative for children and adults alike. The Colour Countdown card game created by the pupils at The Piggot School was inspired by classic analog games Uno and I Spy. It can bring out the competitive spirit amongst players but also lets them interact with their surroundings instead of just focusing on various screens. This is an annual competition for students aged 13-16 to create something that will eventually be sold in the Design Museum.

Each card has a coloured cellophane window and can be combined with other cards to create different blends of colours. The players have to find things around their space which will match the card or cards that they’re holding. It can be played in any environment but of course since you’re dealing with colours, it is better played somewhere with a lot of colourful objects around. The cards are also eco-friendly as it uses FSC-certified paper and the cellophane is made from wood pulp.

The next step for the Colour Countdown is that it will be developed by the students with a professional agency. It will eventually be manufactured and then sold at the Design Museum Shop so you actually have the chance to own and play this game. Who says only kids need to be weaned away from their screens?

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One of my plans in life when I eventually retire is to live somewhere near the beach and just have a daily walk along the shore. Aside from nature and people watching, another thing that I enjoy is to look at some of the things that people leave, intentionally or unintentionally, by the shore and in the water and wonder what’s the story behind it. Of course it’s not a good thing that these trash are left there so it will also be part of my routine to clean this up and think of ways to encourage people not to litter on the beach.

Designers: Shoma Furui and Kem Kobayashi

One idea that came from someone who has been seeing all these tiny pieces of trash left on the Makuhari Beach in Chiba City is to create a game out of them. Debris is a tower-stacking game similar to Jenga and Uno Stacko but is made from the marine plastic collected from the area. The tiles have different color patterns based on the season and the collection site where these microplastics came from. It uses VOC-free (no volatile organic compounds) and water-based acrylic resin as a binding agent.

While you’ll have fun playing the game (if this is your thing), the designer also wants to make Debris a way for consumers to engage with environmental issues. Regular beach clean ups do help keep the shore and water clean but there are also those tiny pieces that remain buried and erode into invisible microplastics. They have an effect on the marine environment that sometimes may not be so visible or obvious to us. Having a game made from these pieces can help us think about our effect on our environment.

It can also be interesting to think about what these colors and shapes were in their previous life as trash. But the important thing is that the materials and process in creating Debris is fully sustainable and it can be disposed of properly when you no longer need it. And hopefully, you get to think about what you’re doing to help preserve marine life and keep places like beaches a safe haven for all.

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