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10K Club Interview: 'The Notting Hill Market' and 'Magical Village Over the Bridge' by Lepralego

Welcome to the final 10K Club Interview of this review period! Today, we're ending with bang! Back, once again, with a double Idea interview is Marcos Garavelli, a.k.a. Lepralego, and his fantastic ideas: MAGICAL VILLAGE OVER THE BRIDGE and THE NOTTING HILL MARKET. What better way to end this review period than with these excellent submissions? Leave your support for Marcos in the comments!




ABOUT YOURSELF

  1. Who are you?
    My name is Marcos Garavelli.


     
  2. Where are you from?
    I’m from Spain, born in Argentina. 
     
  3. How old are you?
    I’m 45-years-old.
     
  4. What do you study or do for a living?
    I’m a professional photographer. 
     
  5. What hobbies do you have?
    I love cinema, music and I’m also a big football fan. I’m interested in gardening and cooking, but I’m just a beginner. LEGO building is more than a hobby for me so that’s why I’m not including it in this list… 
     
  6. Do you have a personal LEGO portfolio website that you can share with us?
    I share my LEGO creations on my Instagram, my Facebook and my Flickr..
     
  7. Have you created any LEGO MOCs (my own creations) that you’re particularly proud of? What is it, why are you proud of it and do you have a photo of it?
    Yes, I’ve been working for a couple of years (Yes, years!) on a Haussmann-style building. I have called it Boulevard des Lumières. It has been a major challenge for me because of its size and the amount of pieces it has (18,500 parts…) and also because of my lack of knowledge in the field. I’ve learned a lot during the process: building techniques, Bricklink orders, parts, colours, proportions… 


     
  8. How and when did your interest in LEGO products come about?
    When I was a kid I used to love building new things with my LEGO bricks. I remember that I was always trying to build big cities in my room and most of the time I ran out of pieces. One day, as an adult with a stable job and living in another country, I went inside a toyshop by chance and when I saw the LEGO boxes on a shelf I felt again that old passion, so on impulse, I bought a LEGO set.  
     
  9. What is the LEGO hobby to you? What does it mean to you? How does it fit in your life? E.g. build, display, meetups, play the games or 'just' watch the cartoons.
    Well, since the day I mentioned in your last question (17 years ago…) the presence of LEGO bricks in my everyday life has not stopped growing, and LEGO Ideas has been extremely important in this process. I’m deeply grateful to this platform for all that it has awakened in me and am proud to be part of its community.
     
  10. What is your favourite LEGO theme (current or past)? Why? And has any theme inspired your building style or preference in any particular way?
    I think that the 1980s train sets (also known as The Grey Era), especially the 12V system, marked the pinnacle of the train theme, with their lampposts and remote-controlled signal points, crossings and decouplers. I dreamed of owning those sets practically all my childhood but I was never able to do it. Perhaps that unfulfilled desire that accompanied me for so long is behind the love I feel today for LEGO bricks! The modular buildings of the Creator Expert theme introduced in 2007 were also very important in my life. 
     
  11. What is your favourite official LEGO set ever? Why?
    My favourite has always been the Green Grocer (10185). It was the first modular that I fell in love with and for me, something special emanates from it. It was an important step forward since it was there that interior details began to be incorporated. Thanks to that set, the series was consolidated and the others arrived. For me, personally, it was the set that changed everything; it meant a change in my priorities and the conviction that I want to be closer to LEGO bricks in one way or another every day.
     
  12. What is your favourite LEGO element? Why?
    The part 4070, 1x1 angular brick (commonly known as ‘headlight’) is for me the best LEGO part ever. It has multiple options for bracket techniques and it is also a great part for offset techniques as it gives you the possibility of ‘breaking’ the 20 LDU width sequence of the regular bricks, reducing it to 16 LDU. 
     
  13. Is there a LEGO designer (official LEGO designer or fan designer) who you are inspired by and look up to? Who and why?
    When I think about LEGO designers, Jamie Berard is always in first place. His designs have influenced me and so many people so much and for so long that no amount of thanks is enough. Marcos Bessa has inspired me too. He has built many of the most incredible sets LEGO has released to date: The Ewok Village, the Ghostbusters Headquarters and the last Diagon Alley are some of the standout examples. I also admire the work of Justin Ramsden: his Spring Lantern Festival raised the level of beauty of the whole line; Milan Madge’s work in Pirates of Barracuda Bay was outstanding, and the last NASA Space Shuttle Discovery was great, too. Cesar Soares, who worked with treehouses before LEGO hired him, has done an incredible job adapting the Ideas Treehouse by Kevin Feeser.  

    In the fan designer field I admire Jonas Kramm’s work and love the style of Andrew Tate (Snaillad). Luca Petraglia, Rocco Buttliere, Michael Haas, Jessica Farrell, Alice Finch and Warren Elsmore blew my mind so many times with their builds. From the LEGO Ideas platform, I would like to mention again my friend Pablo Sánchez (Bricky_brick) and Rafael Ponce de León (Brick Dangerous). Pablo inspired me and so many fan designers here and outside this platform and Rafa is a brilliant designer and a great friend I’ve met in this platform. I’m also a big fan of Ralf Ranghaal and Andrea Lattanzio (Norton74), their builds always amaze me all the time. And I would like to mention again Ivan Guerrero (bulldoozer), Lionel Martin (Castor-Troy), Vaggelis Ntezes (Delusion Brick), Truman (Legotruman), Maria Kalaoglou (Mind the Brick), Nick Lafreniere (NickLafreniere1) and Gab Kremo (GabKremo). It’s a pleasure to share this experience with all of you, my friends!

  14. Is there one or more particular LEGO related websites (not official LEGO websites) that you visit often and/or are inspired by? 
    bricklink.com is always open on my desktop, for checks about existing parts, inventories of sets and piece availability. I regularly visit newelementary.com for news related to new parts and colours. brickset.com is the reference guide for official LEGO sets. I also visit eurobricks.com quite often, as well as its forums. 


     

ABOUT YOUR PROJECT

  1. Where did your interest in this particular model come from?

    The Notting Hill Market 
    I love London, and Portobello Road Market in Notting Hill is one of my favourite places. I visited it for the first time in 2000, I remember I bought a legendary second-hand Rolleiflex camera in an antique store. This iconic neighbourhood, with its beautiful pastel townhouses, quaint boutiques and vintage shops is always in my mind when I think of London, so I thought it would be great to design a LEGO set that reflects all this charming and appealing atmosphere while keeping it as an enjoyable playset. 

    Famous for appearing in films such as Bedknobs and Broomsticks, Paddington Bear and, most famously, Notting Hill, starring Hugh Grant and Julia Roberts, visitors come to Portobello Road to see this colourful market as well as explore the streets in search of the famous blue door. 

    Magical Village Over The Bridge 
    I’ve always wanted to build a bridge with LEGO bricks. One night, back in November 2021, I had a dream in which I was walking across an endless stony bridge. On this bridge, there were abandoned houses that I was leaving behind without worrying about what might be inside. What is the meaning of this type of dream? I don’t know, maybe my psychologist could give me some hints about it… But, I kept that idea in my mind. Some days later, with the Christmas season coming, I thought of using this idea of a village over a bridge in a festive and magical way.

  2. How long was the process of making the project, and what did you have to research as well. What kind of prep, research and design phases did you go through to produce your creation?

    The Notting Hill Market 
    It took me almost 6 weeks to complete the whole process from the initial idea to the final submission. I’ve made some research before I started the design process. I’ve collected images from all my visits to Portobello Road, I’ve watched all the films related to this place, I’ve joined some Facebook groups of neighbours from Notting Hill… 

    Magical Village Over The Bridge 
    This was my fastest project so far, I think I spent 3 weeks from the first sketches to the final photographs. I always try to research new techniques for each project. This time I tried a net technique for some parts of the roofs. I really like the result. 
     
  3. What special challenges did you face creating the model? What was the most difficult part to recreate?

    The Notting Hill Market 
    The main challenge was to build at an angle the whole structure, even the sidewalks. 

    Magical Village Over The Bridge 
    Here I use many new techniques for me: many ‘SNOT’ walls, the ‘net technique’ for some roofs, the rounded wall using the 1x2 rounded plate and the flexible hose with 1x1 clip plates for the red curved lines which define the shape of the bridge. 
     
  4. How long did it take to complete the model? Did you finish it fairly quickly, or did it take a long time? And how did the build time compare to the time you spent promoting your Product Idea to reach 10,000 supporters? 

    The Notting Hill Market 
    It took me 6 weeks approx. of design and 20 months to reach the 10k supporters needed. 

    Magical Village Over The Bridge 
    It took me 3 weeks approx. of design and 3-4 months to reach the 10k supporters needed. 
     
  5. How did it feel when you reached the magic 10,000 votes and how long did it take? 
    For both projects, I could say I feel so grateful for the support received and also for being part of this awesome community. Each time I reach the 10K goal (this is my 4th and 5th time of reaching 10K) I feel so thrilled. 
     
  6. Approximately how many LEGO bricks did you use to create your model?

    The Notting Hill Market 
    2140 pieces plus 7 minifigures. 

    Magical Village Over The Bridge
    2131 pieces plus 3 minifigures.


  7. What is your favourite building technique or part/section that you’ve incorporated into your Product Idea?

    The Notting Hill Market 
    The angled build. 

    Magical Village Over The Bridge 
    The net technique used for the ‘melting’ roofs.
     
  8. If you built your model digitally, what software did you use to build and render your model?

    The Notting Hill Market 
    I’ve designed using Bricklink Studio and rendered it in Blender. 

    Magical Village Over The Bridge
    I designed the main structure of the bridge using Bricklink Studio, then I built it with real LEGO pieces. I shot the final photographs of the model in my own studio. 
     
  9. If you used custom stickers or prints for your design, how did you create them or where did you get them? 

    The Notting Hill Market
    I included them before the renderings in Blender. 


    Magical Village Over The Bridge 
    I created them in Photoshop and printed them on glossy sticker paper with my home printer. 


     

ABOUT LEGO IDEAS

  1. Do you have any useful advice about creating a successful LEGO Ideas project?
    Build what you love, this is for you! You are the first 'visitor' to your work. I think that you'll always go further trying to be honest with yourself than trying to please people at any cost.
     
  2. What (if any) methods did you use to advertise and attract support to your Product Idea? 
    I think that my Instagram account and Facebook pages helped in the support of this project. I’ve made some videos of this model with different lighting situations and shared them in many LEGO fan groups. 
     
  3. What is it about the platform that attracts you? What tips would you give to anyone who is thinking about uploading an idea?
    Two things: Being ‘in touch’ with the company I love since I was a child and the LEGO Ideas Community. When you submit a project it starts a wonderful period of interaction and feedback with people with shared interests, passions, doubts and concerns.
     
  4. Do you have plans to submit any other Product Ideas in the future? If yes, can you give us a hint of what that might be?
    I have many other projects right now gathering support, you can check out my profile: Lepralego. About future projects, I feel uncomfortable anticipating things that may change during the design process.

  • 10k club
  • 10k club interview
  • product idea
  • marcos garavelli
  • magical village over the bridge
  • the notting hill market
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