Meet a member: Paupadros
Posted by Huw,
Today we're interviewing Pau Padrós who's a design student in Sabadell, near Barcelona:
What is your first LEGO memory?
My brother used to build Duplo train circuits all around our living room when I probably was three or four. I loved seeing those plastic trains going round and round! As of the first set I actually built, I think it was 8672 Ferrari Finish Line.
My father was a big fan of F1 in general but of Michael Schumacher in particular so that set was clearly chosen by him! Every season, my brother and I would modify our cars to mimic the new ones. Oh, and we crashed them to the walls to see which one was tougher. I soon learned that overlapping plates made more secure connections, so I always won. The face prints of the mechanics creeped me out though.
Did you have a dark age and if so, what caused you to emerge from it?
Not really. Probably between when I was ten and fourteen, I was not building as much. That said, I’ve always built with a certain moderation: a set or two a year at maximum.
Which set or theme has been most influential upon you, as a LEGO fan?
Modular buildings, of course! The set was probably 10251 Brick Bank. When the images first emerged, I naively thought: ‘Isn’t that just terrible? I’m sure I can build a better modular myself’. That’s how my first modular, Magic Shop, came to be. I must admit that as much love as I have for Magic Shop, Brick Bank is an overall better model. Who would have thought, right?
What are you building right now?
I’ve recently finished building 21046 Empire State Building. I must admit I’m using some of its techniques for current MOCs!
I’ve also finished a kinetic sculpture of the Tintin Moon Rocket and I’m currently building what will be my eleventh modular building eventually.
How do you store your LEGO?
Pretty badly! I basically use one Architecture box for larger pieces and another for smaller pieces.
When I build my MOCs physically, I always design it digitally first and buy the pieces for it later. This way I can assure that I don’t have too many useless bricks lying around. The leftover bricks mostly come from sets and are used for little experiments or for fixing in case my digital designs flop massively. A kinetic sculpture I designed for my parents’ wedding anniversary was an absolute structural disaster and I had to work around all the issues!
Do you build MOCs? If, so what?
I mainly build MOCs. I have quite a big catalogue of Modular Buildings (ten fully completed) of which I’m extremely proud of. I treat each new modular as a musician might treat an album. They need to push the envelope further and further for what modular can be. They need to be cohesive, well- balanced, innovative. That’s why it almost took a whole year to finish Baseplate Alley, my latest modular, which uses angled façades in new ways.
I was also the first to design a corner modular with a 45-degree façade. I must admit I was surprised when Corner Garage did the same thing almost two years after I did.
Besides that, I’ve also dipped my feet into Architecture with a skyline set of Bilbao, a landmark set of Sagrada Família and, inspired by the amazing Jason Allemann, into kinetic sculptures. I have free instructions for one of them and for a sculpture of the Tintin Moon Rocket (which was also a part of a kinetic sculpture).
One of the most special models I built was a 3D model of Raphael’s ‘The School of Athens’. We built it my brother and I together, capturing all the little details. It was so exciting, because it was something no-one had ever built. Our mother is a philosophy teacher, so it was extra special. I made a movie to help promote it. It was an Ideas project that sadly got taken down due to it containing religious references – a bit of a stretch if you ask me...
What is your favourite part?
The Erling or 'headlight' brick. It’s an absolutely fascinating design. Every single aspect of its design it thought to serve a different purpose. You can place it on its back to build SNOT right to the bottom of the piece, you can also use it as a regular 1x1 SNOT brick but it solves the half-a-plate error (a sixth of a brick) protrusion those cause. Plus, its little lid is also a sixth of a brick! Brilliant! And I find it aesthetically beautiful.
What part would you like LEGO to produce?
A 1x1 inverted cheese slope. Like the recent inverted baby bow but with the cheese slope instead.
Do you have a presence on Instagram, YouTube or elsewhere?
I’m on Flickr and since recently also on Instagram. I have two free instructions you can download on my Rebrickable page too.
Do you have any interests or hobbies other than LEGO?
I’m one of those that has always to be doing new things. I have written a novel (unpublished) and I’m finishing my second one. I also love doing graphic design work (some of it bleeds into LEGO too) and I’m a very amateur music producer and photographer.
I have also made some animated movies. My brother and I also have a HO model, so I help him around too. I also really like railway systems and diagrams (thank you, Harry Beck!), design, architecture and art. Here in Barcelona we are blessed to have so much of that!
How long have you been visiting Brickset? Been a member?
According to my profile page, I’ve been a member since December 2016, but I’ve been visiting since I discovered the whole LEGO enthusiast world about two or three years prior to that.
What's your favourite/most used feature of the site?
The set listing and part inventories. When building a MOC, it’s so handy to know if a specific piece has been in a set recently, how common is a piece… There is also something rather satisfying about browsing through the sets of previous years, it’s almost as if looking at a yearbook, especially the D2Cs. I know by memory most of them, but the single act of seeing so well-organised in such a pleasing manner is just fabulous.
Have you been to a LEGO event?
I have been to a couple of them, but none of the major ones. I really should go to some of the more famous ones someday.
Thanks Pau!
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21 comments on this article
Amazing Mocular buildings! Nice colours.
Hombre, así me gusta, ver un español por aquí!
^^I like it! ‘MOC’-ular buildings! Anyone else?... No?... Well I thought it was funny. Thanks for the interview.
Great article and Modular designs. I like the F1 bit, as I too bought a few of the F1 sets and then went about making a new one every year. I still do today but more of the scale of 8142. Ferrari was easier to build as they are generally red and white (and black)
@DartNoob12 said:
"Hombre, así me gusta, ver un español por aquí!"
I’m learning Spanish at school! At least I was until Corona happened.
‘Hombre’ means ‘man’. ‘Me gusta’ is ‘I like’. ‘Ver’-to watch. Español- Spanish.
Pot aquí is here. So, I believe your sentence reads “Man, so I like, to watch here in Spanish” I’m afraid my Spanish is not great, but I think that is roughly the literal translation.
@Slobrojoe said:
" @DartNoob12 said:
"Hombre, así me gusta, ver un español por aquí!"
I’m learning Spanish at school! At least I was until Corona happened.
‘Hombre’ means ‘man’. ‘Me gusta’ is ‘I like’. ‘Ver’-to watch. Español- Spanish.
Pot aquí is here. So, I believe your sentence reads “Man, so I like, to watch here in Spanish” I’m afraid my Spanish is not great, but I think that is roughly the literal translation."
It would roughly be: "Man, that's how I like it, seeing a spanish guy here!"
@Slobrojoe said:
"^^I like it! ‘MOC’-ular buildings! Anyone else?... No?... Well I thought it was funny. Thanks for the interview."
Glad someone spotted it! Thanks, Joe :-)
If the word 'Mocular' isn't already in regular use, it should be!
@Paupadros said:
" @Slobrojoe said:
" @DartNoob12 said:
"Hombre, así me gusta, ver un español por aquí!"
I’m learning Spanish at school! At least I was until Corona happened.
‘Hombre’ means ‘man’. ‘Me gusta’ is ‘I like’. ‘Ver’-to watch. Español- Spanish.
Pot aquí is here. So, I believe your sentence reads “Man, so I like, to watch here in Spanish” I’m afraid my Spanish is not great, but I think that is roughly the literal translation."
It would roughly be: "Man, that's how I like it, seeing a spanish guy here!""
I'd go with "Man that's what I like! seeing a spaniard around here!"
Very nice Modular designs. I like them for being so colourful.
The school of Athens is amazing, although I must admit, initially I thought it was a some kind of ball with Cinderella sitting on the stairs. Then I read the title!
@Volfogg said:
" @Paupadros said:
" @Slobrojoe said:
" @DartNoob12 said:
"Hombre, así me gusta, ver un español por aquí!"
I’m learning Spanish at school! At least I was until Corona happened.
‘Hombre’ means ‘man’. ‘Me gusta’ is ‘I like’. ‘Ver’-to watch. Español- Spanish.
Pot aquí is here. So, I believe your sentence reads “Man, so I like, to watch here in Spanish” I’m afraid my Spanish is not great, but I think that is roughly the literal translation."
It would roughly be: "Man, that's how I like it, seeing a spanish guy here!""
I'd go with "Man that's what I like! seeing a spaniard around here!""
Yes, I was refering to that. Spanish is a somewhat particular language, it is tricky at first, later you start to get the hang of it.
P.S: sorry for my English, i'm just at middle school and I am learning it too.
Very nice "moculars"! For anyone who has visited Barcelona, it is readily evident that there is a clear influence of Gaudi in your work. Very nice and colourful. Would be good to see a real modular based on Spanish architecture - not sure if it would fit nicely with the rest of the line but for sure it would bring colours and most likely new building techniques and new part usage.
@A__Khan said:
"The school of Athens is amazing, although I must admit, initially I thought it was a some kind of ball with Cinderella sitting on the stairs. Then I read the title!"
Some other people told me it looked like the ball in Beauty and the Beast. I can definitely see why :D
And thanks for your comments, everyone, so glad you like my moculars. I’ll be spamming the word everywhere now :)
@Dartnoob12 @Paupadros @Volfogg thanks for clearing that up, I’d better get my vocabulary book out! @Dartnoob12 I believe we are similar ages, if you’re in middle school. Does it work like the US?
@bananaworld you should trademark that, before a LEGO does!
incredible builds!
Your Bilbao Guggenheim is awesome.
@Paupadros said:
"I was also the first to design a corner modular with a 45-degree façade”
Wasn’t Café Corner the first corner modular to have a 45° façade?
You have a wonderful eye for detail, texture and composition. I really like your modulars, and other models!
The modular with the stripes is really imaginative, I can see Lego using it in some modular, or architecture set.
Paul is such a genuine guy just living life and having fun. Awesome interview!
You seem to be very talented and creative, from what I can see here - keep up the nice work! :)