This European Town Was Built to Resemble Lego Blocks

There’s a reason Legoland parks saw a whopping 15.7 million visitors one year: There’s something satisfying—even awe-striking—about the impressive structures made using nothing more than the tiny, colorful rectangles that simply snap into place. Legos aren’t just attracting the attention of kids whose parents would rather have them actively building something neat using their hands than lounging in bed watching cartoons; skilled architects—specifically Dmytro Vasyliev, Aleksandr Popov, Olga Alfiorova at Eastern European firm Archimatika—are also turning towards the blocks. The architects at Archimatika found inspiration in the thumbnail-size building blocks for their newest project: Comfort Town, a housing project in Kyiv, Ukraine.

The project took a whopping 11 years to complete, but the city is grateful because the space used to be quite an unsightly industrial zone. When they took on the project, the architectural firm’s goal was to develop the unfortunate-looking area in the middle of a bustling Ukrainian city into a beautiful residential block that, above all things, would be sellable—even in a time of crisis.

The architects were offered free reign to transform the area into a place where people would actually want to live, so it’s no surprise that the team built what kind of looks like a Lego town. And with buildings that are beautifully painted in a combination of bright, attention-grabbing shades and easy-on-the-eyes pastels, Comfort Town is hard to miss. Plus, it boasts a sense of serenity with all of the spaces divided by streets and courtyards so that it doesn’t feel too cramped (like actual Lego towns sometimes do).

Not to mention: Like any complex within a city, Comfort Town has a 14,763-square-foot retail section that features a sizable fitness club and a 3.7-acre outdoor sports facility. There are also cafes, stores, and offices on the lower floors of the apartment buildings. In other words, it’s the perfect town. And that’s hardly a matter of opinion. The new town has been heavily embraced by the city’s younger generations of families and city-dwelling professionals enjoying a more European lifestyle over the Soviet-like one that has been so heavily ingrained in the city.

In keeping with the minimalist flavor of the city, the architects opted for buildings with simple geometric-inspired shapes and completely flat exteriors. However, although residents may have had to sacrifice luxuries such as balconies and a few architecturally decorative elements, Comfort Town is exactly what its name promises it is: Easy living. Archimatika even restored some preexisting elements, like the park that now includes a collection of blooming perennial trees, sculptures, and a fountain.

Source: https://www.architecturaldigest.com/story/european-town-built-resemble-lego-blocks