[KevinFromTexas]

I got an interesting PM two weekends ago at the Austin Skyscraper Forum. Rick Hardin, a developer in Austin who is currently working on the planned CLB tower at 7th & Rio Grande wanted to know if I had modeled their building, or if I could possibly do it. I told him that I was waiting on a few things before I could get more done. I needed more renderings for the projects for detail, and wanted to wait a while on some of the buildings to let them progress more in construction and I needed more detailed heights. I also of course needed more Legos to do the model. So we talked through emails and on the phone and he offered to buy the necessary Legos to build the model and I of course accepted! I would get credit for doing the model and he would tell me some things about the building, heights and such. He wanted the update of the model so that he could photograph it and include the photos in CLB's presentation before the city council which means the photos will be on tv. I also get to keep the Legos. So I spent 4 days straight working on the model of downtown so that he could come by this past Wednesday and photograph it.

Rick said that once they get approval for the building that they plan to breakground within 5 months. He said the tower will be 112 feet long, along West 7th Street. This includes the podium. It'll be 96 feet wide, north to south. He also said it'll be in the neighborhood of 390 feet to 400 feet tall. He said once it gets closer to breaking ground they'll know for sure how tall it'll be. And once it does breakground they'll tell me how tall exactly, to the mainroof and mechical penthouse/penthouse screen.

As of lastnight, the CLB Tower was approved on the 2nd & 3rd reading. So it will move forward now.
http://forum.skyscraperpage.com/showthread.php?t=126580

He also told me he and his partner may be working on a tower on the block just east of the William P. Hobby Building. This is the block bounded by 3rd, 4th, Lavaca & Colorado. He indicated it would be in the area of 400 feet to 500 feet tall in the way he lifted his hand above the block.

Now one more cool note is that I've been building things with Legos since I was atleast 5 years old and I've never gotten rid of a single piece. About 10 years ago I actually set down and counted every single Lego piece that I owned. It took me more than 2 weeks. At that time it was around 15,000 Legos and I've counted every new piece that I've gotten since, (unless it's in bulk buckets or sets from a store, which say how many pieces they contain). With this new batch of Legos that puts the number of Legos I own to just over 100,000 pieces. Probably in the neighborhood of 101,000 pieces after I officially count them.

I added the buildings he requested on top of what I had already built, both old and new. He wanted the CLB tower included along with the post office towers, The Monarch, 360, and The Austonian. So I did those along with the ones I had already built, plus a few more. In all there are 58 highrises pictured here. The model at this point measures 55 by 60 inches and has several thousand pieces. Not sure on the exact number, but I'd guess atleast 4,000 or so.

I had a heck of a time doing the model. It was fun and I feel proud to have taken atleast a small part in the development of a new building in downtown. We are going to have one beautiful skyline folks. I didn't even include anything in the Waterfront District and there's still a few proposals missing from this.

Enjoy. :)

Onto the pics...


Introduction:

http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b234/KevinFromTexas/My%20Legos/P1050662EDIT.jpg

http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b234/KevinFromTexas/My%20Legos/AustinLegoPanoSmall.jpg

Aerials:

View from southwest.
http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b234/KevinFromTexas/My%20Legos/P1050855EDIT.jpg

View from northwest.
http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b234/KevinFromTexas/My%20Legos/P1050716EDIT.jpg

View from northwest.
http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b234/KevinFromTexas/My%20Legos/P1050806EDIT.jpg

View from northwest.
http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b234/KevinFromTexas/My%20Legos/P1050798EDIT.jpg

View from northwest.
http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b234/KevinFromTexas/My%20Legos/P1050574EDIT.jpg

http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b234/KevinFromTexas/My%20Legos/P1050570EDIT.jpg

View from west.
http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b234/KevinFromTexas/My%20Legos/P1050801EDIT.jpg

View from west.
http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b234/KevinFromTexas/My%20Legos/P1050845EDIT.jpg

View from west.
http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b234/KevinFromTexas/My%20Legos/P1050843EDIT.jpg

View from west.
http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b234/KevinFromTexas/My%20Legos/P1050715EDIT.jpg

View from west.
http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b234/KevinFromTexas/My%20Legos/P1050712EDIT.jpg

View from west.
http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b234/KevinFromTexas/My%20Legos/P1050709EDIT.jpg

View from west.
http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b234/KevinFromTexas/My%20Legos/P1050590EDIT.jpg

View from southwest. These really show the density that we'll have in downtown.
http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b234/KevinFromTexas/My%20Legos/P1050831EDIT.jpg

View from southwest.
http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b234/KevinFromTexas/My%20Legos/P1050540EDIT.jpg

View from northeast.
http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b234/KevinFromTexas/My%20Legos/P1050797EDIT.jpg

View from northeast.
http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b234/KevinFromTexas/My%20Legos/P1050792EDIT.jpg

View from northeast.
http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b234/KevinFromTexas/My%20Legos/P1050829EDIT.jpg

View from northeast.
http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b234/KevinFromTexas/My%20Legos/P1050745EDIT.jpg

View from southeast.
http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b234/KevinFromTexas/My%20Legos/P1050650EDIT.jpg

http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b234/KevinFromTexas/My%20Legos/P1050648EDIT.jpg

View from southeast.
http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b234/KevinFromTexas/My%20Legos/P1050768EDIT.jpg

View from southeast.
http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b234/KevinFromTexas/My%20Legos/P1050546EDIT.jpg

View from east.
http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b234/KevinFromTexas/My%20Legos/P1050788EDIT.jpg

View from east.
http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b234/KevinFromTexas/My%20Legos/P1050782EDIT.jpg

View from east.
http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b234/KevinFromTexas/My%20Legos/P1050779EDIT.jpg

View from east.
http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b234/KevinFromTexas/My%20Legos/P1050644EDIT.jpg

View from east.
http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b234/KevinFromTexas/My%20Legos/P1050553EDIT.jpg

View from north.
http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b234/KevinFromTexas/My%20Legos/P1050826EDIT.jpg

View from north.
http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b234/KevinFromTexas/My%20Legos/P1050616EDIT.jpg

View from north.
http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b234/KevinFromTexas/My%20Legos/P1050562EDIT.jpg

View from northeast.
http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b234/KevinFromTexas/My%20Legos/P1050819EDIT.jpg

View from northeast.
http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b234/KevinFromTexas/My%20Legos/P1050813EDIT.jpg

View from south.
http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b234/KevinFromTexas/My%20Legos/P1050765EDIT.jpg

View from south.
http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b234/KevinFromTexas/My%20Legos/P1050764EDIT.jpg

View from south.
http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b234/KevinFromTexas/My%20Legos/P1050706EDIT.jpg

http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b234/KevinFromTexas/My%20Legos/P1050703EDIT.jpg

http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b234/KevinFromTexas/My%20Legos/P1050699EDIT.jpg

http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b234/KevinFromTexas/My%20Legos/P1050693EDIT.jpg

http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b234/KevinFromTexas/My%20Legos/P1050683EDIT.jpg

Individual building aerials:

800 Brazos, (red & black building, soon to be the Brazos Lofts). The Vaughan Building and 815 Brazos, (middle left). J.J. Pickle Federal Building, (gray building upper left), Omni Hotel Downtown, (large black bldg), Perry-Brooks Building, (red building middle right).
http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b234/KevinFromTexas/My%20Legos/P1050917EDIT.jpg

William P. Hobby State Office Building, (bottom), Block 21 Tower, (right), and AMLI Downtown, (top).
http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b234/KevinFromTexas/My%20Legos/P1050916EDIT.jpg

View from southeast.
http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b234/KevinFromTexas/My%20Legos/P1050900EDIT.jpg

View from southwest.
http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b234/KevinFromTexas/My%20Legos/P1050899EDIT.jpg

AMLI II & Block 21 Tower.
http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b234/KevinFromTexas/My%20Legos/P1050898EDIT.jpg

CLB Tower.
http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b234/KevinFromTexas/My%20Legos/P1050897EDIT.jpg

CLB Tower.
http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b234/KevinFromTexas/My%20Legos/P1050748EDIT.jpg

CLB Tower.
http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b234/KevinFromTexas/My%20Legos/P1050727EDIT.jpg

CLB Tower with surrounding towers.
http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b234/KevinFromTexas/My%20Legos/P1050724EDIT.jpg

http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b234/KevinFromTexas/My%20Legos/P1050721EDIT.jpg

816 Congress, (formerly Frost Bank Plaza). This was probably one of the most difficult buildings to model because of all the angles.
http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b234/KevinFromTexas/My%20Legos/P1050895EDIT.jpg

823 Congress.
http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b234/KevinFromTexas/My%20Legos/P1050894EDIT.jpg

Capitol Centre.
http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b234/KevinFromTexas/My%20Legos/P1050893EDIT.jpg

Capitol Tower.
http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b234/KevinFromTexas/My%20Legos/P1050891EDIT.jpg

Omni Hotel Downtown Austin Centre.
http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b234/KevinFromTexas/My%20Legos/P1050890EDIT.jpg

Omni Hotel Downtown Austin Centre.
http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b234/KevinFromTexas/My%20Legos/P1050886EDIT.jpg

Southwest Tower.
http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b234/KevinFromTexas/My%20Legos/P1050889EDIT.jpg

Left to right: Littlefield Building, Driskill Hotel Annex, Stephen F. Austin Hotel. One American Center's base, (top left).
http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b234/KevinFromTexas/My%20Legos/P1050885EDIT.jpg

One American Center. I think the dirt dobbers must have been borrowing it. Wtf?
http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b234/KevinFromTexas/My%20Legos/P1050884EDIT.jpg

One American Center.
http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b234/KevinFromTexas/My%20Legos/P1050873EDIT.jpg

JPMorgan Chase Bank Tower.
http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b234/KevinFromTexas/My%20Legos/P1050872EDIT.jpg

300 West Sixth.
http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b234/KevinFromTexas/My%20Legos/P1050870EDIT.jpg

Austin Hilton Convention Center Hotel.
http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b234/KevinFromTexas/My%20Legos/P1050883EDIT.jpg

Austin Hilton Convention Center Hotel.
http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b234/KevinFromTexas/My%20Legos/P1050880EDIT.jpg

Hampton Inn & Suites.
http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b234/KevinFromTexas/My%20Legos/P1050878EDIT.jpg

Westgate Tower.
http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b234/KevinFromTexas/My%20Legos/P1050914EDIT.jpg

ABC Bank Building.
http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b234/KevinFromTexas/My%20Legos/P1050912EDIT.jpg

501 Congress/T. Stacy Tower.
http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b234/KevinFromTexas/My%20Legos/P1050910EDIT.jpg

501 Congress/T. Stacy Tower top.
http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b234/KevinFromTexas/My%20Legos/P1050877EDIT.jpg

501 Congress/T. Stacy Tower.
http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b234/KevinFromTexas/My%20Legos/P1050876EDIT.jpg

View from southeast.
http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b234/KevinFromTexas/My%20Legos/P1050776EDIT.jpg

Frost Bank Tower.
http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b234/KevinFromTexas/My%20Legos/P1050908EDIT.jpg

Frost Bank Tower.
http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b234/KevinFromTexas/My%20Legos/P1050875EDIT.jpg

Frost Bank Tower.
http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b234/KevinFromTexas/My%20Legos/P1050868EDIT.jpg

Bank of America Center.
http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b234/KevinFromTexas/My%20Legos/P1050874EDIT.jpg

301 Congress.
http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b234/KevinFromTexas/My%20Legos/P1050866EDIT.jpg

CSC Headquarters & Austin City Hall.
http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b234/KevinFromTexas/My%20Legos/P1050864EDIT.jpg

Four Seasons Hotel.
http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b234/KevinFromTexas/My%20Legos/P1050863EDIT.jpg

San Jacinto Center.
http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b234/KevinFromTexas/My%20Legos/P1050862EDIT.jpg

One Congress Plaza.
http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b234/KevinFromTexas/My%20Legos/P1050861EDIT.jpg

One Congress Plaza.
http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b234/KevinFromTexas/My%20Legos/P1050860EDIT.jpg

100 Congress.
http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b234/KevinFromTexas/My%20Legos/P1050859EDIT.jpg

Altavida
http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b234/KevinFromTexas/My%20Legos/P1050858EDIT.jpg

Hampton Inn & Suites, (top right), Convention Center Parking Garage & Visitor's Center, (white bldg), and One Congress Plaza Parking Garage, (red building).
http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b234/KevinFromTexas/My%20Legos/P1050907EDIT.jpg

Radisson Suites Hotel.
http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b234/KevinFromTexas/My%20Legos/P1050906EDIT.jpg

The block to the right, (east), of the shorter highrise in this picture is where Rick said they're planning a tower. He indicated it would be in the 400 to 500 foot range. He didn't talk about the specifics of it, and I didn't press the issue.
http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b234/KevinFromTexas/My%20Legos/P1050905EDIT.jpg

The Plaza, (lower left), Lavaca Plaza, 300 West Sixth, (top left),
http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b234/KevinFromTexas/My%20Legos/P1050869EDIT.jpg

Texas State Capitol looking up Congress.
http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b234/KevinFromTexas/My%20Legos/P1050656EDIT.jpg

http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b234/KevinFromTexas/My%20Legos/P1050655EDIT.jpg

Starr Building, (red bldg center).
http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b234/KevinFromTexas/My%20Legos/P1050902EDIT.jpg

Republic Square Park & US Courthouse. That's not the design of it, just the rough shape, size and location. The height is 135 feet, which is what I had heard originally in an article from the American-Statesman.
http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b234/KevinFromTexas/My%20Legos/P1050853EDIT.jpg

360 Condominiums.
http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b234/KevinFromTexas/My%20Legos/P1050730EDIT.jpg

360 Condominiums.
http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b234/KevinFromTexas/My%20Legos/P1050852EDIT.jpg

360 Condominiums.
http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b234/KevinFromTexas/My%20Legos/P1050849EDIT.jpg

Post office towers. Rick told me some heights to go on. Now, I'm not sure if these are correct, and they probably will change eventually. I also didn't have any renderings to go on. These aren't the actual designs, color, shape, or even the arrangement of the towers on their blocks. I just arranged them myself in what I thought Novare/Andrews Urban might do. Rick told me that the shorter tower would be 480 feet tall while the taller one will be 600 feet tall. I have no idea if those are the actual heights.
http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b234/KevinFromTexas/My%20Legos/P1050854EDIT.jpg

The famous spot where we met Sandra Bullock this past December at the Austin forum meet.
http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b234/KevinFromTexas/My%20Legos/P1050846EDIT.jpg

Spring, (lower left), Whole Foods, (upper left), The Monarch and Austin City Lofts, (center) and CLB Tower center top.
http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b234/KevinFromTexas/My%20Legos/P1050851EDIT.jpg

Austin City Lofts & The Monarch.
http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b234/KevinFromTexas/My%20Legos/P1050844EDIT.jpg

The Austonian.
http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b234/KevinFromTexas/My%20Legos/P1050857EDIT.jpg

View from east.
http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b234/KevinFromTexas/My%20Legos/P1050771EDIT.jpg

Copying their rendering just a bit.
http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b234/KevinFromTexas/My%20Legos/P1050759EDIT.jpg

http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b234/KevinFromTexas/My%20Legos/P1050739EDIT.jpg

http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b234/KevinFromTexas/My%20Legos/P1050736EDIT.jpg

http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b234/KevinFromTexas/My%20Legos/P1050733EDIT.jpg

http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b234/KevinFromTexas/My%20Legos/P1050757EDIT.jpg

View from southeast.
http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b234/KevinFromTexas/My%20Legos/P1050752EDIT.jpg

Aerials with Fountain Place

One of my favorite buildings in Texas is Dallas' Fountain Place. And even though I tried my hardest to recreate it with Legos, it was just no use. I need some more blue pieces to complete it and if you'll notice it doesn't turn in the way that the actual Fountain Place does in real life. That would have been nearly impossible to do with Legos and have it still look good. Still it gets the point across. I placed the Fountain Place model here at the future site of the museum tower. I would love to see a really tall tower happen there. Great location since it's in the middle of downtown. It would be great to have a nice anchor tower there.
http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b234/KevinFromTexas/My%20Legos/P1050918EDIT.jpg

http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b234/KevinFromTexas/My%20Legos/P1050929EDIT.jpg

http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b234/KevinFromTexas/My%20Legos/P1050928EDIT.jpg

http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b234/KevinFromTexas/My%20Legos/P1050927EDIT.jpg

http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b234/KevinFromTexas/My%20Legos/P1050926EDIT.jpg

http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b234/KevinFromTexas/My%20Legos/P1050925EDIT.jpg

http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b234/KevinFromTexas/My%20Legos/P1050924EDIT.jpg

My two dogs in the background, Lacy and Sophie.
http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b234/KevinFromTexas/My%20Legos/P1050920EDIT.jpg

[KevinFromTexas]

>>>>Scroll>>>>

http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b234/KevinFromTexas/My%20Legos/AustinLegoPano.jpg

Buildings labeled with their names & heights.
http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b234/KevinFromTexas/My%20Legos/AustinLegoPanoLabeled.jpg

[Boris]

My God Kevin, that's awesome. So when will your lego work be featured on TV?

OK I see two dogs but where's the cat? What was its name again? Did the dogs chase away the cat?

http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b234/KevinFromTexas/My%20Legos/P1050920EDIT.jpg

[KevinFromTexas]

Thanks, Boris. The cat's name is Jules. He's an inside cat as are my two dogs. They get along ok, but they keep their distance. Jules actually out weighs Sophie, (the black dog), by about 5 pounds, so she keeps her distance from him and it's funny because he also keeps his eye on her. They really do get along ok, though. I'll walk into my room and they'll both be sleeping on the bed.

The pictures of the model were on tv lastnight on the City of Austin's access channel 6 which is what the city uses to show city council meetings.

[GoldenBoot]

Great job, Kev!! Say, where did you get the heights for the new Marriott and the Whitley property? Have you seen any design renderings (specifically regarding the Whitley property)?

Also, it looks like 219West, Rain, Oilcan's, Capitol Brasserie, Sullivan's and Ringside at Sullivan's are doomed if Mr. Hardin and his partner(s) end up developing that property in the Warehouse District. I'd really hate to see Sullivan's and Ringside be pushed out! They're the original ones in the chain. Nonetheless, I hope that they might be incorporated into the new tower.

[OfCourse]

Great job, Kev!! Say, where did you get the heights for the new Marriott and the Whitley property? Have you seen any design renderings (specifically regarding the Whitley property)?

Also, it looks like 219West, Rain, Oilcan's, Capitol Brasserie, Sullivan's and Ringside at Sullivan's are doomed if Mr. Hardin and his partner(s) end up developing that property in the Warehouse District. I'd really hate to see Sullivan's and Ringside be pushed out! They're the original ones in the chain. Nonetheless, I hope that they might be incorporated into the new tower.

Oh, no!

[urban_encounter]

Good job Kevin...

I can only imagine how much time has gone into making the model.

[rad707]

"With this new batch of Legos that puts the number of Legos I own to just over 100,000 pieces."

Great model. Very impressive. No go get laid, or high, or something.

[pyropius]

Wow! Thanks so much for sharing this with us! I didn't realize how big the Whitley or post office towers would seem in the mix.

[TDoss]

Dude - Well done!
You should be proud. That is so kick-ass.

You should display that at a gallery or something. When's the sky scraper wine party?

[greenbelt]

Awesome Kevin, and congrats on your new found Lego fame. Soon, you'll be on Letterman, I'm fairly certain of this.

I was most surprised by the heights of the post office site and Miller blue print block. WOW. That really helps fill in the skyline going west. Also, I about flipped out of my chair with your Fountain Place on the table. Then I read you did a Dallas comparsion for the hopefully soon to be Museum site (AMOA, Michael Graves building). A building like Fountain Place with not only its size, but also beauty would be amazing in our skyline. Funny, originally Dallas was to have 2 of those, but funding/land, not sure wasn't there. Anyhow, very nice work. You should be proud, and try not to let the birds poop on it! :cheers:

[Derek]

yea...send this in to the local news and have them do a story on it!!! thats so impressive!

[GoldenBoot]

Again, great job Kev!

Where did you get the heights for the Marriott and the Whitley property? Have you been privy to new information and/or renderings?

[MNMike]

hey thats neat. Good lookin' model...

about your lawn though...

[Trae]

How long did this take you? Impressive.

Send it to the local news.

[KevinFromTexas]

Darn Photobucket, it looks like the bandwidth will be exceeded soon.

Say, where did you get the heights for the new Marriott and the Whitley property? Have you seen any design renderings (specifically regarding the Whitley property)?

I guessed on those heights. And no, those aren't any designs, just "envelope" models to show where they'd be, (according to what we already know).

Great model. Very impressive. No go get laid, or high, or something.


Thanks. Not likely, and done.

Wow! Thanks so much for sharing this with us! I didn't realize how big the Whitley or post office towers would seem in the mix.

You're welcome. All these heights may change, though, and nothing here is official anyway other than what is already under construction.

wesome Kevin, and congrats on your new found Lego fame. Soon, you'll be on Letterman, I'm fairly certain of this.

I was most surprised by the heights of the post office site and Miller blue print block. WOW. That really helps fill in the skyline going west. Also, I about flipped out of my chair with your Fountain Place on the table. Then I read you did a Dallas comparsion for the hopefully soon to be Museum site (AMOA, Michael Graves building). A building like Fountain Place with not only its size, but also beauty would be amazing in our skyline. Funny, originally Dallas was to have 2 of those, but funding/land, not sure wasn't there. Anyhow, very nice work. You should be proud, and try not to let the birds poop on it!

Thanks. I basically just threw in Fountain Place because I love it so much. That block is currently completely vacant, just a parking lot, so it was easy to plop it down for a few pics. I really hope something big rises at the museum site. Does anyone know if that block is within the Capitol view corridor? 700+ feet there would look amazing. And the bird poop. This thing does't stay outside. Legos actually melt at 108F degrees, and considering the record high in Austin is 112F in the shade, it would end up looking like a skyline designed by Frank Gehry. :haha: Anyway, the tables did get a smattering of the white stuff that morning when I went out there to set up the model.

hey thats neat. Good lookin' model...

about your lawn though...

What lawn? Seriously, I know, it's horrible. Our yard has a lot of shade because of the Live oaks. It's been impossible to get grass to grow back there. My grandmother's yard nextdoor looks much the same as she too has a bunch of oaks.

How long did this take you? Impressive.

Send it to the local news.

Well, I didn't do it all at once. I built my first skyscraper models in 1998 at the suggestion of my grandmother actually. I was showing her a new book I had gotten about skyscrapers and somehow mentioned my Legos or something and she made the comment that I should model some buildings. So the first one I did was the Sears Tower. Since then I've built about 200 skyscrapers from around the world. I had done some buildings from Austin back then, One American Center, UT Tower, the Capitol, Bank of America, Chase Bank. Then I started to realize that I wanted to do so many buildings from Austin that I thought, gee, it would be great to arrange them in the way that they appear in downtown. Once I started to look into it I started getting the details. Block sizes, street widths and more building heights. I started on the model sometime around 2002. Eventually I'd like to include everything from Lamar to I-35, and from Cesar Chavez, and the Rainey Street area, to atleast 19th Street. But I'd really like to do the UT Campus and West Campus. I love the density up there. That's what makes it interesting is when an area is dense.

And during my short hiatus, (forgot to pay the internet bill), I counted the Legos I got. The official number now is 102,257. I could give everyone in Round Rock atleast one Lego. :haha:

[DecoJim]

Kevin:
Good job on the city. Very cool that you may have had an impact on construction decisions.

I see that you included a lot of proposed towers. (I had thought that the Frost Bank tower, with its neo-Deco top, was the tallest building and a quick check of Emporis confirmed this.)

If you do not mind a bit of advice:

1. Check out www.bricklink.com if you have not already. This is a great way to get just the Lego parts that you want. Click on the Categlog link and find almost any part Lego ever made!

2. Check out the following: http://www.brickshelf.com/cgi-bin/gallery.cgi?f=74049
so you can "steal" some advanced building techniques for micro-scale Lego buildings. That is basically how I improve my technique when I can't think of it myself.

By the way, a friend of mine is building downtown Detroit in a similar scale to what you are using. Perhaps I can get him to post some shots on SSP sometime.
-Jim

[texastarkus]

.

[texastarkus]

Helicporter used in aerial photography of Lego city
http://img124.imageshack.us/img124/6595/helicpoterme4.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

[KevinFromTexas]

^ LOL.

Thanks, Jim. Those are quite cool. That one of the Eiffel Tower is awesome. I may have to give that one a go. Do you know if there's any better/closer pics showing the shaft of the tower? That's a brilliant design.

And I keep meaning to join Brickshelf.