A Literal Dive Into the Lost City

ode to adventure

A finalist in the third series of the BrickLink Designer Program, The Lost City is no small nod to adventurers: it’s a 3,500+ parts ode to exploration, crammed full of all the best hues of green and grey.

The Build Process

The build process was less tedious than I generally expect from a set of this size. Since it’s ruins, there were always small variations with every iteration of a design. In fact, I would have preferred more repetition, but that was because I was trying to read a detective novel at the same time as I built; but it’s probably safe to bet not many folks will be doing that.

While I found it confusing to build the base all in one go (so many slightly different lengths of plates!), designing it as a single section does have one big advantage: it’s remarkably sturdy, making the whole set easy to lift or spin around.

Details and Design

The color palette is refreshing and soothing, and there are plenty of details to reward a closer look. The back is open as is frequently the case in LEGO sets. I really like the teal dots inside, but the empty roof on the left feels a little skimpy.

I found myself wondering, after I’d finished building the Lost City, what the architectural style was. I’m no architect, but in my uninformed opinion the roundish dome things have a touch of Mesoamerican. But overall the feel is like a ruined villa, because of the high peaked roof, and the domes don’t quite contradict that. Then too the statues are… knights? They should probably be Grecian for a villa, but I guess knights is more exciting. I would have preferred something more consistently exotic, or more consistently medieval, or even more consistently renaissance English, but though the history buff in me is still wondering where these ruins are from, that doesn’t detract from the fact that it’s a cool model.

A knight with funny ears stands guard over the entrance.

The rows of repeating pillars in the background give a spectacular immersive feel.

Under the mirror pool is this crypt, complete with slightly open empty coffin.

Throughout, the designer was thoughtful about the logic of this structure: there is a hole in each story through which this drop can fall into a basin at the bottom.

One of my favorite parts is the tree growing out of the roof.

There aren’t any play functions, which is where this set stops short of what you would get in a typical LEGO set. Of course, that’s no problem if you’re looking for a display piece, but I did regret there not being at least a pin to pull for a trapdoor.

On the other hand, there are plenty of cool details for your minifigures to discover! As a kid I would have loved that part. And as an adult, I love the subtly different levels of ruin between similar structures. The round domes are particularly noticeable in this respect, as you have only slightly worn domes on the towers, and then a topped one off to the side. Throughout, the designer didn’t just slap pieces around but consciously thought of where things would have fallen. This stands out with special brilliance on the statues.

The mirror pool is a lovely touch.

Domes are generally hard to build and the designer's solution, while blocky, works really well with the ruin theme.

Diving Deeper

The Lost City is a splendid parts pack. In fact, I caught myself thinking as I built it that it felt a little wrong to be carefully following instructions for building ruins: this would be just the set to pour out on the floor and eyeball an approximation to the original design, especially if you flipped through the instructions first and found whatever clever details you want to keep—such as the crypt and the mirror pool. If you plan on building ruins this would be a fabulous starter pack at a reasonable price. It’s a safe bet that quite a few of these parts will find their way into a future ruins MOC of mine!

In the meantime, I was getting underwater vibes from this set—teal and green, and the toppled architecture. The designer himself mentioned being inspired by Atlantis, so I figured I would try to put this set where it really belongs: in a fish pool.

Ready?

It looks really good out in nature, if you can call this very man-made pond nature

As I said before, it’s quite sturdy and pretty easy to move around. So I rolled up my sleeves, slipped my hand into the crypt and began to lower it into the water. What could possibly go wrong?

The lost city refuses to lose itself

Sinking Feeling

It floats, that’s what.

I immediately felt dumb for not having thought of that. This is by no means the first time I’ve subjected a LEGO creation to the water treatment, although last time I was trying to make it float. I have now come up with a better challenge: make it sink!

I think, if I built the entire thing underwater and avoided trapping air between the bricks, it would probably sink, but how long would it take to build an entire set underwater on the off chance? I’m not that crazy. Instead I weighed it down on top (I mean I held it with one hand) and moved onto the next problem.

Which is that being underwater does not enhance a photograph.

I don't even know if you can tell it's underwater or if it just looks like a really grainy photo

at least now you know that it's genuinely underwater

Problem number three was one I had actually anticipated, which was that the fish were a bit wary of this massive thing that was clearly not food. However, they were kind enough to swim in the background for a couple shots.

The Verdict

In sum, if you are a fish, this may not be the set for you.

A couple pieces fell off during this process—due to me knocking against them as I was trying to get the thing to sink—but for the most part, it stood as strong and stable as if it weren’t ruins at all. And it was great fun to try it out in the pond, even if on the whole it was rather a failure.

As for the set, I conclude where I began: it’s full of the most useful colors, grays and greens, making it an ideal starter pack for building ruins or even a centerpiece for your aquarium. And while I would have enjoyed a more recognizable architectural style, it’s eye-catching and imposing as-is, a city I’m sure any minifigure would be thrilled to explore.

Have you ever tried to sink a LEGO creation? Let us know in the comment section below!

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