It's easy to imagine how hard it would be to make something complex out of LEGO bricks. But let me try to convince you that the opposite - making simple things out of LEGO - is just as hard if not harder. Once you take a look at Christoph Niemann's book I LEGO® N.Y., you'll get what I mean.

Christoph, an award-winning illustrator, children's books author and a former New Yorker himself, was inspired to create a series of miniature New York vignettes using his son's LEGO toys after a few cold and dark winter days in Berlin. He then posted photographs of his creations along with scribbled captions on his New York Times blog.

The key to Christoph's LEGO MOCs (that's "my own creations", for those of you who don't know the LEGO lingo - say that three times fast) is their simplicity: he captured the essence of New York City - both the iconic (like the Empire State Building LEGO) and the mundane (the man standing on a subway platform, with a giant rat scurrying by his feet) in fewer pieces than one might think possible.

Here are but a few of the clever collections from the book (which features all of Christoph's original creations, plus 13 new ones):

The feature above is an excerpt of I LEGO® N.Y. by Christoph Niemann, published by Abrams Image, an imprint of Abrams. Photographs by Kristina Weinhold. LEGO® is the trademark of The LEGO Group which does not sponsor, authorize or endorse this book. Photos reproduced here by permission by the publisher.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Christoph Niemann's illustrations have appeared on the cover of the New Yorker, Wired, The New York Times Magazine, and American Illustration. He is the author of several books. His work has garnered numerous awards from the American Institute of Graphic Arts, the Art Directors Club, and American Illustration.

Links: Christoph's Official Website | Abstract City Blog | I LEGO® N.Y. at Amazon | Abrams Image