NEWS: LEGO® IDEAS - 21353 The Botanical Garden
by Fan Designer - Valentina Bima | Model Designers - Chris McVeigh - LEGO Group
Nov. 11. 2024
Order at LEGO SHOP
Meet LEGO Designer: Video
Video Review by Tiago Catarino
Video Review by Solid Brix Studios
Reviewed by David Vi Boi Huynh, BOI DESIGN STUDIO
Design and Build
The Botanical Garden set embodies Victorian botanical architecture, with the three interconnected atriums and detailed glasshouse capturing a nostalgic elegance. The design prioritizes form and function, allowing each atrium to showcase different environments.
Architecture: The glass panels with transparent elements break down boundaries between interior and exterior, allowing you to view the detailed interiors from nearly any angle, which is a brilliant design choice. The central atrium with its spiral staircase and observation deck creates a natural focal point, guiding the eye upwards and giving a sense of height and exploration.
Plant and Fauna Variety: With over 35 plant species and various animal figures, the set’s biodiversity creates a dynamic display that invites continuous observation. Each plant and animal element is well crafted, bringing a sense of authenticity to the design.
Structural Cohesion: Each atrium has its own aesthetic yet complements the others, creating a unified experience. The balance of tall exotic trees, vibrant exterior flora, and minimal café interior showcases varied settings without overwhelming the viewer.
Design Rating: 9/10. The detail and realism are superb, and it does well in balancing complexity with display potential. Minor drawbacks might come from the assembly of delicate plants that could be fragile in handling.
Display Value
The Botanical Garden’s display value is exceptional. It functions as both an eye-catching piece and a miniature world with layers of detail.
Viewpoints: The transparent elements and open atriums give flexibility in terms of display angle. The different viewing points let people enjoy the details from multiple sides.
Visual Impact: The Victorian glasshouse design combined with lush plants and colorful flowers makes the set visually impactful on any shelf or display cabinet. The spiral staircase leading to the observation deck creates verticality, giving the entire structure a sense of grandeur.
Minifigures and Animals: The inclusion of minifigures and animal elements brings life and a sense of scale to the garden, enhancing its realism and making it more interactive.
Display Rating: 10/10. This set stands out as a showcase piece, especially for nature lovers, with its serene scenes and dynamic color palette.
Build Experience
The build experience is immersive and complex, catering to experienced builders while remaining enjoyable for newer LEGO enthusiasts.
Complexity and Variety: With 3,792 pieces, there’s a satisfying depth to the build, especially with the variety of elements, including intricate plant pieces and transparent parts. Builders will appreciate the change of pace between constructing the three atriums, each with its distinct flora.
Challenging Aspects: The detailed, small elements used for plants might be intricate to assemble, which adds a layer of challenge. However, this complexity pays off, providing builders with a true sense of accomplishment.
Innovative Techniques: There are likely new building techniques here to achieve the curved greenhouse frames and staircases, enhancing the appeal for seasoned builders who appreciate intricate architecture.
Build Experience Rating: 8/10. The challenge and variety are well executed, though some parts might feel delicate or tricky, requiring extra patience.
Value and Pricing
At €329.99 / £289.99 / $329.99, this set is on the higher end of LEGO pricing, but the investment feels justified considering its size, piece count, and form.
Piece Count and Rarity: For nearly 4,000 pieces, including numerous unique and transparent elements, the price per piece is fair. Additionally, the set’s rarity as a LEGO Ideas selection adds value for collectors.
Exclusive Gift Offer: The LEGO Botanicals Entrance Gate as a promotional item for Insiders during the first week adds a small incentive for early buyers.
Long-Term Value: Given its display appeal and the trend of high resale values for unique LEGO Ideas sets, this set holds potential for long-term appreciation.
Value Rating: 7.5/10. While priced fairly for collectors and botanical fans, the cost might be a barrier for more casual LEGO fans.
Overall Impression
The LEGO Botanical Garden set is a remarkable intersection of form, function, and artistry. Its peaceful yet intricate design invites reflection, making it not only a display piece but a miniature experience. This set achieves a formgiver’s ideal—something that is both practical and visually poetic, echoing the atmosphere of real botanical gardens.
The only notable limitations are its high price and potentially delicate build components. Still, for fans of botany, LEGO architecture, or tranquil environments, the set offers an immersive, enjoyable experience that’s likely to leave a lasting impression.
Overall Rating: 8.8/10. A beautiful, well-designed set with a few challenges in handling and pricing.
Final Rating Based on Formgiving
8.8/10 – The Botanical Garden brings nature and tranquility into a captivating LEGO form, blending realistic botanical elements with structural artistry.
Conclusion
The LEGO Ideas Botanical Garden set is a brilliant blend of artistic design and interactive experience, capturing the elegance and peacefulness of a Victorian-style botanical space. With its challenging build, intricate plant designs, and stunning display value, it is well-suited for dedicated LEGO enthusiasts and botanical fans alike. It represents an ideal balance of formgiving and functional beauty, establishing itself as a centerpiece for any collection.
Italian architect and LEGO enthusiast Valentina Bima has masterfully crafted a serene botanical escape with the LEGO Ideas Botanical Garden set. Her design combines architectural precision with the charm of natural beauty, creating a structure that feels at once historical and contemporary. Through her design, Valentina beautifully embodies her personal journey and passions: an architectural background, a love of travel, and a deep admiration for botanical gardens. Here’s how she brought this intricate set to life.
A Relaxing Passion
For Valentina, LEGO building is more than a hobby; it’s a way to unwind and channel her creativity. Having always been captivated by botanical gardens for their peaceful atmosphere, she seeks them out whenever she visits a new city. Her botanical garden design reflects this love for the quiet, nurturing ambiance of these green spaces, encouraging LEGO builders to enjoy that same sense of calm and wonder in their own homes.
Architectural Inspiration
The Botanical Garden’s design takes inspiration from iconic cast-iron greenhouses built between the mid-19th and early 20th centuries—many of which Valentina explored firsthand during her travels. She admired the way these historical greenhouses achieved a delicate balance, showcasing their contents without overshadowing them. This experience led her to design a LEGO garden that serves as a “frame” for its plants, with a structure that feels open, light, and inviting.
Design Challenges and Process
Creating this intricate set wasn’t easy. Working digitally, Valentina spent around two months testing various layouts and structural elements to find the right balance between aesthetics and stability. Designing a building that would be equally appealing from all four sides presented an additional challenge. She wanted her garden to look beautiful on any display—whether centered in an urban park or placed alongside other LEGO buildings.
Building the Frame: Valentina meticulously experimented with the transparent and cast-iron inspired elements to create a structure that allows natural light to flow through, just like in real greenhouses.
Plants and Flowers: One of her favorite parts of the set, the plants, are meticulously crafted with vibrant colors and unique shapes. Each piece complements the others, creating an engaging and lifelike array of flora.
A Display Masterpiece
Valentina’s Botanical Garden is as much a display piece as it is a building set. The large windows and transparent walls allow admirers to view the garden’s lush interior without opening it, inviting people to take in the detail and artistry from the outside. It is designed with versatility in mind: it can stand alone in an urban park setting or blend seamlessly into a LEGO street scene with other modular buildings.
Valentina’s Reflections
Reflecting on the journey, Valentina expressed deep gratitude to everyone who supported her set on the LEGO Ideas website. Seeing her design come to life as an official set was a dream come true, made possible by the encouragement of the LEGO community. Valentina’s Botanical Garden is not just a LEGO set but a testament to her love for architecture, nature, and creativity. She hopes that builders around the world will find as much joy and relaxation in assembling it as she did in designing it.
