BDP9: Solomon's Temple

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Ahead of crowd support for BrickLink Designer Program series 9 next week, here's another article written by a Brickset member about their submission.

Modeltrainman has modelled an ancient building, referring to Biblical records for inspiration.

The Inspiration

I have long enjoyed Biblical history, and would one day love to visit Jerusalem.

Earlier this year, I was reading the records of Solomon building the temple in 1st Kings and 2 Chronicles. I wondered if I could build an accurate model based on the Biblical record.

I reached out to the BDP team after the closing of BDP8 submissions and asked if they thought it would be viable for a future series. They said to go for it. I figured since Notre Dame was a set it’d be OK. I also drew inspiration from artists’ renderings such as Thomas Newbury’s model, Take a Peek Inside an Ancient Temple! - The Metropolitan Museum of Art and pictures like 10 Facts About Solomon's Temple - Have Fun With History


The build

This might surprise readers. But I’ve never actually built a LEGO Architecture set. I’ve always wanted to try one, but they’ve thus far been too expensive. I think Notre Dame looks neat, but out of my range.

My favourite part usage was that for the stairs, I used 4250465: TOOTHED BAR M=1, Z=10 as the stairs, and used 4225201: PLATE 1X2 W. STICK 3.18 along with design 60470t to angle them neatly.

On such a small scale, they make wonderful stairs! I also made it so the temple roof can be lifted off to view the inside.

The carts with the lavers are wheeled using LEGO parts 6099514: MINI ROLLER SKATE | Brickset . I’m always amazed at how a part meant for one thing can have so many uses. [image solomonstemplebdp9stairs]

The Sea (the big basin used for the priests’ cleansing) was actually mostly built upside down!

Feel free to leave any feedback in the comments. I hope you’ll consider voting for my model in Series 9 from Monday.

33 comments on this article

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By in United States,

I'm surprised LEGO let this in - This is a ancient temple to an existing religion - first foremost and only, whereas Notre Dame is an architectural marvel that happens to be a church. These two things are not the same: It's a bit like saying Mega Bloks and LEGO are the same company, just because they're both brick-based toy makers, which is obviously wholly untrue. (also, the Jewish people might take offense at making copies of what was once their temple and selling them for a profit!)

I'm wondering if this will even make it to voting, honestly. No offense to modeltrainman - it's a nice MOC - but doesn't appear to fit the Lego brand IMO.

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By in United Kingdom,

This has to be one of the most boring designs I've seen in a long time

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By in United Kingdom,

Please, don't comment unless you have something constructive to say. [Edited]

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By in United States,

Very cool build! I love the history and research behind this model!

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By in United States,

@Huw said:
"Please, don't comment unless you have something positive to say."

I sincerely hope my comment wasn't considered negative - I labored long and hard on what I was trying to say without seeming rude. If it is, I'll gladly remove it - but I genuinely believe what I was trying to say is accurate.

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By in Germany,

odd

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By in Brazil,

Made me realise that there are no churches or temples in Lego City, which is an excellent thing because children should play without minding religion differences.

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By in United Kingdom,

@Murdoch17 said:
" @Huw said:
"Please, don't comment unless you have something positive to say."

I sincerely hope my comment wasn't considered negative - I labored long and hard on what I was trying to say without seeming rude. If it is, I'll gladly remove it - but I genuinely believe what I was trying to say is accurate."


Yours is fine.

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By in United States,

Honestly I’ve wanted Biblical based Lego sets for a while, and architecture is a genius way to start. Amazing design!

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By in United States,

@Murdoch17 said:
"I'm surprised LEGO let this in - This is a ancient temple to an existing religion - first foremost and only, whereas Notre Dame is an architectural marvel that happens to be a church. These two things are not the same: It's a bit like saying Mega Bloks and LEGO are the same company, just because they're both brick-based toy makers, which is obviously wholly untrue. (also, the Jewish people might take offense at making copies of what was once their temple and selling them for a profit!)

I'm wondering if this will even make it to voting, honestly. No offense to modeltrainman - it's a nice MOC - but doesn't appear to fit the Lego brand IMO."

I’m Jewish, and while I don’t represent all Jews, this set looks awesome and I will definitely buy…

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By in United States,

I appreciate the thought and effort that went into this build, and I suppose it is appropriate for BDP as a niche subject outside the core portfolio, but I'm afraid this one will be "Not For Me". Thanks for posting, though!

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By in Germany,

I have been a huge history buff since childhood, so stuff like this is right up my alley.

I would love an entire series of sets of ancient buildings, temple or otherwise. There are so many interesting and varied designs with fascinating history.

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By in Serbia,

@Huw said:
"Please, don't comment unless you have something positive to say."

So we aren't allowed to even point out if the MOC is inaccurate or simply not that well made?

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By in United States,

@Huw said:
"Please, don't comment unless you have something positive to say."

I feel comments on LEGO models have no need to be incendiary or cruel in order to express negativity or disinterest, but what is the purpose of a public forum that asks for only one mode of opinions? There's a difference between being critical and being a jerk about it, and the former should be allowed.

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By in United States,

@Huw said:
"Please, don't comment unless you have something positive to say."

That's a bit weird, and I hope that's not how you conduct your official reviews for sets Lego sends. There's a difference between asking for constructive criticism instead of generic negative feedback and asking to only praise a set.

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By in United States,

@Murdoch17 said:
"I'm surprised LEGO let this in - This is a ancient temple to an existing religion - first foremost and only, whereas Notre Dame is an architectural marvel that happens to be a church."

Yeah, this has no modern era architectural representation. If they approve this, they will need to approve religious sites such as Mecca as well so regardless of the model itself, zero chance for them to approve it.

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By in Germany,

@legomanijak said:
" @Huw said:
"Please, don't comment unless you have something positive to say."

So we aren't allowed to even point out if the MOC is inaccurate or simply not that well made?"

I don't think @Huw meant to discourage constructive criticism, just plain negativity.

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By in United Kingdom,

Neat build, especially around the central temple. Was the decision to leave the exposed studs on the wall a deliberate one to capture the crenellations?

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By in Belgium,

@elangab said:
"Yeah, this has no modern era architectural representation. If they approve this, they will need to approve religious sites such as Mecca as well so regardless of the model itself, zero chance for them to approve it."

Wait, that doesn't seem to make a lot of sense. Mecca also has a modern era architectural representation. Moreover, why should that even be a criterium?

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By in United Kingdom,

@AustinPowers said:
" @legomanijak said:
" @Huw said:
"Please, don't comment unless you have something positive to say."

So we aren't allowed to even point out if the MOC is inaccurate or simply not that well made?"

I don't think @Huw meant to discourage constructive criticism, just plain negativity. "


Correct. I could have worded it better.

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By in Belgium,

@Murdoch17 said:
"I'm surprised LEGO let this in - This is a ancient temple to an existing religion - first foremost and only, whereas Notre Dame is an architectural marvel that happens to be a church. These two things are not the same: It's a bit like saying Mega Bloks and LEGO are the same company, just because they're both brick-based toy makers, which is obviously wholly untrue. (also, the Jewish people might take offense at making copies of what was once their temple and selling them for a profit!)

I'm wondering if this will even make it to voting, honestly. No offense to modeltrainman - it's a nice MOC - but doesn't appear to fit the Lego brand IMO."


I also don't understand your statement. Why would Notre Dame be more of an architectural marvel than this temple? I'd argue that recreating ancient sites that are no longer preserved is less 'controversial' than LEGOfying existing buildings with a religious connotation. (Mind, I'm not even averse to religious architecture in LEGO form.)

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By in United States,

Please tell me you somehow snuck a staff of Ra Easter egg in there.

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By in United Kingdom,

Id like to suggest some refinements that would improve it (YMMV) as it does look very "MOC" at the moment:

Shift the stairs back by a plates height to hide those connections at the top.
Realign the tiles to make a consistent chequered pattern.
Close the gaps in the temple façade with the bottom of brackets like 79389.
Reduce the height of the bath substantially - it's taller than the walls.
Also with the bath, get the bricks upright and cap it with tiles, inverted curved bricks looks very rough.
Rearrange some of the wall components so that you don't have 4 brick high vertical joints.
Is there a reason for a 2-wide DBG tile at the base of the steps when the remainder are 1-wide?
There's a 6x6 black plate under the front right tower?

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By in Germany,

"King Solomon, these men need you to settle a dispute. They each claim ownership of this Lego set."
"The set shall be cut in two! And each man shall receive... death. I'll build the Lego set."

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By in Netherlands,

I really like the main temple build, it has some nice details. That said, I do have my doubts about the wall surrounding it on all sides. I mean, it makes it kinda impractical to display it, and the front wall just doesn't look so great. And then all those 1x1 tiles.....nice effect but a chore to build. And it also adds a lot to the piece count and as a result the price. While I can appreciate including the whole thing, I'd say it would make for a better set if the focus was just been on the main part.
(I hope I'm not being too negative now?)

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By in United States,

@Elcascador said:
" @elangab said:
"Yeah, this has no modern era architectural representation. If they approve this, they will need to approve religious sites such as Mecca as well so regardless of the model itself, zero chance for them to approve it."

Wait, that doesn't seem to make a lot of sense. Mecca also has a modern era architectural representation. Moreover, why should that even be a criterium?"


Mecca is a religious site first, way before it is looked at as an architectural site, unlike Notre Dame which is looked at more of an architectural/cultural entity way before a religious one - and that's why Lego approved it. They have nothing to hide Solomon's Temple religious status behind as an excuse, and in doing so they are breaking their "non religious" rule, and allowing the possibility to produce "Mecca" set and similar places of worship.

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By in United States,

@elangab said:
" @Elcascador said:
" @elangab said:
"Yeah, this has no modern era architectural representation. If they approve this, they will need to approve religious sites such as Mecca as well so regardless of the model itself, zero chance for them to approve it."

Wait, that doesn't seem to make a lot of sense. Mecca also has a modern era architectural representation. Moreover, why should that even be a criterium?"


Mecca is a religious site first, way before it is looked at as an architectural site, unlike Notre Dame which is looked at more of an architectural/cultural entity way before a religious one - and that's why Lego approved it. They have nothing to hide Solomon's Temple religious status behind as an excuse, and in doing so they are breaking their "non religious" rule, and allowing the possibility to produce "Mecca" set and similar places of worship."


This is a BrickLink Designer submission, not an Ideas or other official set. Whether or not it has any bearing on the brand is dubious but even if we pretend it does, it can be reasonably argued that their rules haven't applied for some time. I'm inclined to think that it depends on whether it's classified as a religious site or an architectural / historical one, since LEGO themselves have already blurred that distinction with various architecture sets. While not all of them are necessarily affiliated with a specific religion, many do have a dark or morbid history associated with them nonetheless.

That all said, I doubt it will even make it to the internal BDP vote, whether that be due to the build itself or sensitivity surrounding it due to current events.

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By in Netherlands,

I think the square is too wide and the building and walls too plain in the design to be interesting enough as a set. Maybe a more detailed design for the temple alone would have been better, although I wonder if that also wouldn't be too simple-looking - its just a pretty plain building to begin with. Not to say I would also like to see more temple and churche-like sets, also in minifig scale :)

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By in United States,

Sorry.

This looks really plain, lacking in detail, and is in microscale that allows for no interaction with minifigs. Thus, it's a pretty generic rendition of an Architecture set.

In sum, the only reason BLDP would look at this as being differentiated from the Architecture line is also the reason they wouldn't touch it with a ten-foot-pole, namely, the religious and current event implications.

Sorry.

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By in New Zealand,

With a bit of Star Wars branding, then it’s all good, right?

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By in United Kingdom,

It appears that I am not allowed to comment on this.

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By in United States,

I think this is a good MOC for its size. I like the coloring of this version of Solomon's Temple compared to the one built by Elbe Spurling for The Brick Bible book series (although that one is on a much bigger scale).

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By in United States,

I'll read these comments later. Thanks for the feedback.

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