Random set of the day: Farnsworth House
Posted by Huwbot,
Today's random set is 21009 Farnsworth House, released during 2011. It's one of 6 Architecture sets produced that year. It contains 546 pieces, and its retail price was US$59.99/£54.99.
It's owned by 3,487 Brickset members. If you want to add it to your collection you might find it for sale at BrickLink or eBay.
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31 comments on this article
I actually just rebuilt this one the other day after it fell apart when I moved houses.
Very simple set, but hey, at least it looks like the real thing. I also like that it sort of has an interior despite being microscale.
I've often wondered if the real house really has that much of the inside visible to the outside world. Must make things... interesting for the owner, passers-by, and neighbors. (Kinda like looking at a goldfish in a glass bowl.)
Personally, it be too much like Jim Carrey in film "the Truman show" for me to live there.
Life on display 'round the clock: 24/7, 365 (366 on a leap year)
Good news, everyone!
This set has more white 1x1 tiles than any other set, with 238 of them. That’s roughly 44% of the entire part count.
@Harmonious_Building said:
"Good news, everyone! "
Farnsworth!!
"Good News everyone! For my newest invention I've created a set that's a perfect scale model of a real architectural house"
"What's so bad about that?"
"Every tile is represented by a 1x1, so it will take ages to build, and even longer to align!"
*fry screams
Edit: sorry, I didn't see someone was earlier than me with the quote. But I kept my comment for the rest
I wouldn't mind larger updated releases of Architecture sets such as this and 21005 Fallingwater, as these small-scale sets don't capture the architectural details of their subjects sufficiently for my liking and don't feel substantial enough to be display pieces.
@Murdoch17 said:
"I've often wondered if the real house really has that much of the inside visible to the outside world. Must make things... interesting for the owner, passers-by, and neighbors. (Kinda like looking at a goldfish in a glass bowl.)"The house, outside of Chicago, is now a museum (Search Google Maps for "Edith Farnsworth House".) It's on a fairly large and private rural lot that abuts a 400 ft wide river and two roads. Views from the roads are blocked by at least 100 feet of tree groves, while the riverside section of the house is visible from the river in the winter, when the broadleaf trees are without leaves.
@rd1899 said:
"I wouldn't mind larger updated releases of Architecture sets such as this and 21005 Fallingwater, as these small-scale sets don't capture the architectural details of their subjects sufficiently for my liking and don't feel substantial enough to be display pieces.
@Murdoch17 said:
"I've often wondered if the real house really has that much of the inside visible to the outside world. Must make things... interesting for the owner, passers-by, and neighbors. (Kinda like looking at a goldfish in a glass bowl.)"The house, outside of Chicago, is now a museum (Search Google Maps for "Edith Farnsworth House".) It's on a fairly large and private rural lot that abuts a 400 ft wide river and two roads. Views from the roads are blocked by at least 100 feet of tree groves, while the riverside section of the house is visible from the river in the winter, when the broadleaf trees are without leaves."
It also has clear transparent pieces, so if it were made as a set today the insides being seen would be less of a problem.
@Murdoch17 said:
"I've often wondered if the real house really has that much of the inside visible to the outside world. Must make things... interesting for the owner, passers-by, and neighbors. (Kinda like looking at a goldfish in a glass bowl.)
Personally, it be too much like Jim Carrey in film "the Truman show" for me to live there.
Life on display 'round the clock: 24/7, 365 (366 on a leap year)"
There are curtains, but yes, it really is a fishbowl.
https://static.dezeen.com/uploads/2017/02/farnsworth-house-movie-news-architecture-mies-van-der-rohe_credit-flickr-user-david-wilson_dezeen_hero.jpg
At the same time, though, it is located in the middle of nowhere on a riverbank an hour or so outside Chicago, so passersby aren't really an issue, I would imagine.
I've always found modern architecture to be very ugly and boring. This is a perfect example. The Lego designer has done a great job capturing the subject matter, but the subject matter itself is strange to me.
Why is this house so special?? It's a rectangle made out of glass so that every Tom, Dick and Harry can gawk at everything you're doing (something people thesedays are somehow perfectly comfortable with).
Everything is white, there's no greenery, and have fun enjoying all those roof leaks (fun fact: Flat roofs don't work. There's a very good reason why older houses had sloped roofs, and it wasn't for aesthetic purposes).
My neighbour's house is similar to this although it's even worse because the whole thing is just grey concrete, not even painted. Reminds me of a WW2 German bunker. We warned the owners about their flat roof, and sure enough when it rained there were a bunch of leaks, especially at the joins.
@Brickchap this house is significant because of how much it defined the International Style of architecture. Similar to the way certain artworks by Picasso defined cubism, or the Ferrari F40 defined sportscars, the Farnsworth House is one of the prime examples of this style.
The beauty comes in its simplicity, functionality, and elegance. It was built in the 1940s, and would still be a beautiful place to live in today, definitely a product of its time, but also timeless. If industrial design could cross-over into the world of art (as it sometimes does), then this house would be a prime example of the cross between art and architecture.
The use of the 1x1 tile in this set verges on the sadistic.
The Architecture line feels a little like an afterthought at Lego these days. We get really nice sets, but very sporadically. I wish we had more sets we could look forward to reliably.
I got this set just for the white tiles. Fallingwater is the only Architecture set I’ve bought to build.
@Virgilnz said:
" @Harmonious_Building said:
"Good news, everyone! "
Farnsworth!!"
Wwwwwernstrom!
I just tried to figure out how they built those chairs, and I just realized they're the 1x1 corner panel. I thought they were much bigger and I was so confused. There's a seem between two of the glass panels that it divided one of those panels to make it look like multiple parts. I feel like a fool.
Looks nothing like the Planet Express headquarters…
I likethe way they did the name tile in this one.
I'd really love to see Lego Architecture return to these sorts of buildings again, instead of the tourist stuff they do now.
@Binnekamp said:
""Good News everyone! For my newest invention I've created a set that's a perfect scale model of a real architectural house"
"What's so bad about that?"
"Every tile is represented by a 1x1, so it will take ages to build, and even longer to align!"
*fry screams"
My mind read that using the characters' voices. The "even longer to align" part used the excited Farnsworth tone.
Just a doubt, the second line is Leela's or Fry's?
I love the "old" Architecture Sets where it was all about architecture and special houses. Not that I don't like the skylines and stuff, but I wish we had more of those sets.
Farnsworth House is in my collection since it came out and sits beside Fallingwater and the Space Needle and some others. Love them! And especially the microbuild inside the Farnworth House. That was something new to me back then.
And yes, aligning the tiles was something else. :D
I just can’t believe it’s been over a decade already.
@Virgilnz said:
" @Harmonious_Building said:
"Good news, everyone! "
Farnsworth!!"
Wernstrom!!!
@Brickchap said:
"I've always found modern architecture to be very ugly and boring. This is a perfect example. The Lego designer has done a great job capturing the subject matter, but the subject matter itself is strange to me.
Why is this house so special?? It's a rectangle made out of glass so that every Tom, Dick and Harry can gawk at everything you're doing (something people thesedays are somehow perfectly comfortable with).
Everything is white, there's no greenery, and have fun enjoying all those roof leaks (fun fact: Flat roofs don't work. There's a very good reason why older houses had sloped roofs, and it wasn't for aesthetic purposes).
My neighbour's house is similar to this although it's even worse because the whole thing is just grey concrete, not even painted. Reminds me of a WW2 German bunker. We warned the owners about their flat roof, and sure enough when it rained there were a bunch of leaks, especially at the joins. "
Fun fact - flat roofs aren't flat at all. They have a slight grade that allows water to drain off.
If everyone think Farnsworth house is bad and hard to build, check out the Robie House 21010 as it's got 771 dark red plates (among other parts), and using the old 2011 - 2019 fragile formula!
It's a set for those sadistic few who like to break Lego into sharp, tiny shards.
@Brickchap said:
"....
Everything is white, there's no greenery, and have fun enjoying all those roof leaks (fun fact: Flat roofs don't work. There's a very good reason why older houses had sloped roofs, and it wasn't for aesthetic purposes).
My neighbour's house is similar to this although it's even worse because the whole thing is just grey concrete, not even painted. Reminds me of a WW2 German bunker. We warned the owners about their flat roof, and sure enough when it rained there were a bunch of leaks, especially at the joins. "
I've lived in houses with flat roofs most of my life, and never had a problem with leakages. Neither has anyone I know. And that's not because it never rains in the Netherlands. It's probably due to the constructor's skills that those leakages occur.
Unrelated to the set itself, but it's disappointing to me that the quality of product renders has been pretty much unchanged since 2011. I wish they looked just a bit more photorealistic (or, as I prefer to say it, "true to life") — I'm sure you could squeeze in a little bit more before you start entering the uncanny valley (which, unfortunately, Mecabricks' "photorealistic" renderer falls deep into).
@tfcrafter:
Industrial roofs tend to be divided up into concave sections with drainage at the low points. The first problem that tends to happen is the drains get blocked with leaves and such that blow onto the roof, causing the water to pool. The drainpipes can also freeze during the winter, in colder climates, and ice dams can form around the drains on the roof. As this happens, the seals around the drains are more likely to fail. The roofs are usually coated in a rubber seal layer, and it’s prone to failure anywhere things are attached to the roof. Freeze/thaw cycles, UV degradation, and mechanical damage to the sealer skin create tiny little leaks that only grow bigger over time. In my area, there’s also the problem of Canada Geese, which see expansive flat roofs as a safe haven from large land predators, and their droppings are fairly caustic.
Pitch the roof so the water drains off the sides instead, and it’ll start causing problems with the foundation, unless you run gutters to carry the water away. Then you’re dealing with clogged gutters all the time, as they collect all the leaves and twigs that blow onto your roof.
@Wrecknbuild:
It could be a combination of many things. Shoddy construction certainly doesn’t help, but neither does letting the maintenance schedule slide. Size and construction materials also make a difference. So does design philosophy. In Europe, buildings are often hundreds of years old, where in North America commercial rental properties often advertise that they “will build to suit”, so if you like the location but not the building, the landowner will raze it and build something that better fits your needs. This isn’t economically feasible if they’re constantly building with the most durable materials, so buildings are often designed with the expectation that they won’t last a full century. The inevitable result is buildings that can’t last a full century.
@LegoSonicBoy:
“Uncanny Valley” is a phenomenon that largely only applies to human depictions. We’re hardwired to identify our own species, so we subconsciously notice when things are not right, even if we can’t identify why. Animals are much harder, plants are harder still, and inanimate objects are even harder. We don’t tend to recognize when those are fake until we see video footage of a person interacting with them. The fruit that Anakin serves with The Force in Ep2 is a prime example. As it’s floating across the table, it doesn’t look like CGI, but the instant Padmé takes a bite from it, the illusion is shattered because her biting action looks mimed, because there’s no resistance evident as she closes her mouth.
@PurpleDave: The reason Mecabricks renders are in the uncanny valley for me is because the photorealism seems to want to convince me at first but the sterility and geometric precision start to stick out like a sore thumb. I'm not sure how others perceive this, but in my case I get massive cognitive dissonance that doesn't happen with LEGO's own renders (which, instead, look obviously synthetic to me).
@Harmonious_Building said:
"Good news, everyone! "
This is what i came to the comments for & i am not disappointed! Well played sir.
@PurpleDave said:
" @tfcrafter:
Industrial roofs tend to be divided up into concave sections with drainage at the low points. The first problem that tends to happen is the drains get blocked with leaves and such that blow onto the roof, causing the water to pool. The drainpipes can also freeze during the winter, in colder climates, and ice dams can form around the drains on the roof. As this happens, the seals around the drains are more likely to fail. The roofs are usually coated in a rubber seal layer, and it’s prone to failure anywhere things are attached to the roof. Freeze/thaw cycles, UV degradation, and mechanical damage to the sealer skin create tiny little leaks that only grow bigger over time. In my area, there’s also the problem of Canada Geese, which see expansive flat roofs as a safe haven from large land predators, and their droppings are fairly caustic.
Pitch the roof so the water drains off the sides instead, and it’ll start causing problems with the foundation, unless you run gutters to carry the water away. Then you’re dealing with clogged gutters all the time, as they collect all the leaves and twigs that blow onto your roof.
@Wrecknbuild:
It could be a combination of many things. Shoddy construction certainly doesn’t help, but neither does letting the maintenance schedule slide. Size and construction materials also make a difference. So does design philosophy. In Europe, buildings are often hundreds of years old, where in North America commercial rental properties often advertise that they “will build to suit”, so if you like the location but not the building, the landowner will raze it and build something that better fits your needs. This isn’t economically feasible if they’re constantly building with the most durable materials, so buildings are often designed with the expectation that they won’t last a full century. The inevitable result is buildings that can’t last a full century.
@LegoSonicBoy:
“Uncanny Valley” is a phenomenon that largely only applies to human depictions. We’re hardwired to identify our own species, so we subconsciously notice when things are not right, even if we can’t identify why. Animals are much harder, plants are harder still, and inanimate objects are even harder. We don’t tend to recognize when those are fake until we see video footage of a person interacting with them. The fruit that Anakin serves with The Force in Ep2 is a prime example. As it’s floating across the table, it doesn’t look like CGI, but the instant Padmé takes a bite from it, the illusion is shattered because her biting action looks mimed, because there’s no resistance evident as she closes her mouth."
Yup, most large new construction buildings (at least in Canada) now typically have 2 drains at the base of grade changes, with one serving as a backup. Additionally, having water drain off the side of the building (even when properly directed away from the foundation) is extremely unsightly.