Alexandria Egypt: A Buildable, Historical Experience

Alexandria is a historical city soaked in significance and lore; the lost tomb of Alexander the Great, the love affair of Cleopatra and Caesar, the Lighthouse as one of the 7 wonders of the ancient world, the burning of the Great Library. It's all here, just in Lego form.

This is a mini-scale version of Alexandria, Egypt at the peak of its cultural significance. Start by scouting the land and laying the main road thoroughfares including the Canopic Way and the Heptastadion. Dig the canal so that the city has fresh water. Plow fields near Lake Mareotis so that the city can be the breadbasket of the world. Don't forget to assemble houses for the city's numerous citizens. Build the outer wall to defend Alexander's most famous city. Arrange temples, a dock, and an odeion to keep the citizens' daily lives full and colorful. Explore Hellenistic culture by erecting the lost tomb of Alexander, the Great Library, and Pharos Lighthouse. Worship at the Serapeum. Solidify Cleopatra's legacy by constructing the royal palace on the island of Antirhodos (watch out for snakes) and the Caesareum. Finally, learn about Rome's invasion and occupation by raising a fort and military dock on the eastern peninsula.

Other historical buildings of note include a bathhouse, a pair of obelisks, a sphinx, and the temple to Poseidon on Pharos Island.

All of the buildings inside the city wall are on small modular plates so that after constructing a historical layout, the city can be easily rearranged without disassembly.

There are four significant reasons that this would make a great Lego set. First, this build could be a highly educational experience as there are three unique cultures to explore within the city walls. The Egyptian, Greek, and Roman cultures played significant roles in the history, religions, architecture, and politics of Alexandria. Second, Alexandria was built on a grid layout, this is an easy transition into the Lego medium as both Alexandria and Lego are intrinsically tied to 90-degree right angles. Third, this build is unlike most of the current architectural offerings available. This build is not a single subject building or a linear skyline, rather this is a three dimensional and tangible map of an entire city. Finally, building in microscale has the unique challenge of requiring sacrificing detail to achieve form, yet that cost must be weighted so that the individual buildings and subject matter is still recognizable. Alexandria has several iconic buildings that visually standout offering contrast and variety, two desirable traits when working in at a scaled-down size.

The mini-scale form is one of the main reasons I started this project. This small size allows the entire city to be displayed on one 48x48 baseplate. Creative liberties must be taken at some point as the building experience must remain fun, refreshing, and varied between buildings on the map. Three factors: variety, accuracy, and symbolism are what governed each step of the project. The base topography and lighthouse could be driven mainly by accuracy. The library is driven by symbolism, the center of the library structure contains a papyrus scroll while the top roof has a flame element foreshadowing what is ultimately to come. The temples, statues, and houses fill in the majority of the map. Variety had to govern this part of the build as it could easily become monotonous and lose value and imagination, so I made small changes between each building unit, maybe one temple has frogs the next one has birds, some building have different color schemes, sometimes I changed the shape of the building's base.

I hope you'll support this project. Alexandria has a lot of potential. It has culture, architecture, history, and drama.