I Lego N.Y.

by Christoph Niemann

I LEGO N.Y. is an imaginative look at life in New York City constructed entirely out of LEGOs. Designer and illustrator Christoph Niemann was inspired to create a series of miniature New York vignettes out of his sons' toys after a few cold and dark winter days in Berlin. The former New Yorker then posted photographs of his creations along with his handwritten captions on his New York Times blog. Resident and honorary New Yorkers around the world responded enthusiastically to the clever and minimalist inventions, which captured both the iconic (the Empire State Building) and the mundane (man standing on a subway platform) in fewer LEGO pieces than one might think possible. This book includes all of the original images, plus thirteen new creations. The resulting collection is delightful in its simplicity and moving in its ability to cature the spirit of life in New York in so few strokes.

Also available from Christoph Abstract City and Sunday Sketching .

Genres: Art, Nonfiction, Picture Books, Design, Childrens

32 pages, Board Book

First published March 1, 2010

Reviews

[Jon Nakapalau · Rating 5 out of 5]

Minimalist fun! Really creative - will give you ideas that may transfer over to projects you are working on. Needless to say LEGO fans will appreciate this book, it is not so much the scale of the models, it is the the way you can connect with an almost archetypal appreciation for what is expressed as a theme.

[Mimi · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very clever, minimalistic representations of typical NY stuff.

[Paige Sullivan · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is not a traditional book in the sense it does have sort of a story line but the text in it are mainly captions of what the pictures represent. Throughout this book there are photographs of the different parts of New York City made out of Legos. Not only does it represent the major part but also the little things that make New York City. At first I thought this would be a great children's book however it mentions something about beer and a keg and I don't think that is just to appropriate for children. Without that though this would be a great way to capture children because most young kids really enjoy Legos and to see it demonstrate what New York is like is pretty cool.

Artistic Elements: The photographs are the actual one the author took while he was creating this Lego New York. The photographs and very fun and interesting.

Recommendation: I think that parents should read this book first to see if they find it appropriate for their child or not. I mean it is only one small part, but I think it should be the parents decision and shouldn't be offered by a teacher

[Mark · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you love LEGO and live in New York, there's no valid reason not to love this picture book. But if you don't (and never) live(-d) in Big Apple, still there's much to love about this "I LEGO N.Y.".

In it, artist Christoph Niemann recreated things that are very New York-ish through different shapes and colors of LEGO bricks, and by doing so brought about joyful (or bittersweet, depends on your feeling towards the city) memories of New York.

This can also make a good gift for anyone leaving New York for good.

[Sarah · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a fabulous little board book! I saw this at Books of Wonder in NY and couldn't help but buy it, even though I didn't have anyone to give it to... so, yes, I bought myself a board book! Very clever. Fabulous gift for any little people (or adults) in New York, particularly if they are Lego fans.

[Thomas · Rating 4 out of 5]

I've got the German edition. As film freak I love this book just for the enactments of three popular movies from 1933, 1955 and 1976. But the rest is also very amusing and creative. You can't squeeze much more product placement into 32 pages but still create such a beautiful work of art.

[Kimley]

This guy's stuff cracks me up...

http://niemann.blogs.nytimes.com/2009...

[Erika · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved it.

Wish there were S.F. version too!!!

[Linda · Rating 4 out of 5]

Loved it, though I'm not sure that it's really for kids. i.e. Lego formation representing "one bourbon, one scotch, and one beer" followed by one representing "sorry, we just started a new keg."

[Nan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Funny collection of lego sculpture. Inspiring. I would recommend this to my genius 6-year old nephew and to his 40-something geeky father.

[Joanna · Rating 4 out of 5]

I LOVED this cute little board book in a gifty shop in NYC. it is adorable.

[Ashley · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is incredibly clever. A good gift for kids and adults alike, especially if they are familiar with NYC.

[Cleo · Rating 4 out of 5]

An amusing read.

[Reinhilde · Rating 4 out of 5]

Will make a wonderful hostess gift to an expat - but first, I had to read it. From Statue of Liberty to Sunset over NJ. Even the Staten Island Ferry is still running :-)

[Chris · Rating 5 out of 5]

Amazing observation!!

[Fraser · Rating 5 out of 5]

OK so it's really pictures of Lego with captions, but it is great!

[Michael · Rating 5 out of 5]

Brilliant. Abstract and brilliant.

[Isabel Schmieta · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fun fact: I own this book because someone left their copy behind on a hallway table in the Park Central hotel in Manhattan in 2012.

A story I always like to tell is that when I started flipping through it, the question “Mom, who is Donald Trump?” popped out when I turned to a page that had two yellow Lego bricks forming a right angle labeled “Donald Trump’s Hair.” The response was something along the lines of “Some famous business guy who isn’t very good.” And that, my friends, is how I first heard of Donald Trump…and, regrettably, not for the last time.

[Noah · Rating 5 out of 5]

I like that there is a picture of a bag in a tree and I like that it's LEGO.

[Rogue Male · Rating 3 out of 5]

6/10

[Alison · Rating 3 out of 5]

A great gift for anyone who loves Legos AND New York City!

I was at the Book Expo last week in the greatest city in the world, hanging out with some of the coolest people in the world at Abrams Books (Diary of a Wimpy Kid) and I literally stopped mid sentence when I saw this book over someone's shoulder. I had to have it!

We love Legos in our house...unless you step on one barefoot when you're tucking your little ones in at night. Regardless, this book is great for kids of all ages.

Christoph Niemann takes iconic images of the Big Apple and interprets them in the language of Lego bricks. There are some great pages like the ones below. I especially love the subway series pic - Go YANKS!

[Huda Fel · Rating 2 out of 5]

I ove Lego but I didn't get some of the designs.

[Sabur76 · Rating 5 out of 5]

While I may not be a particularly huge fan of NYC, I am a huge fan of NYC as illustrated by Lego's.

[gaby anne · Rating 4 out of 5]

i found out about christoph niemann through this guy i was seeing, who told me that he commented on one of niemann's instagram posts with something along the lines of "hey man, fuck you, how dare you have so much talent, what about the rest of us, fuck you man now i want to go back and spend 1230239482 more hours on my art, fuck you, thank you, fuck you". he pulled up that comment and we laughed a lot, and then went on to watch niemann's episode of abstract.

i don't know much about art, but i do know that i fell in love with niemann's work after that episode. his stuff is a lot of fun and super quirky -- i've been trying to get my hands on one of his books, so when i found this one i grabbed it. niemann's work is so inventive, and that really comes through in this book.