Forum Legonii : aka Assembly Square / by Anthony Gibbins

On today’s page, Miranda leads Jessica and Marcellus past the bakery into the forum. This seems a good opportunity to introduce Lego’s most recent Modular Building, Assembly Square. Assembly Square, like many of the Modular Buildings, was designed by Jamie Berad. It was announced in a press release on October 17, 2016 and released to the public on January 1, 2017. It is the largest of the Modulars to date, being one and a half times as wide as other buildings. Its enormous size reflects its status as a 10th Anniversary model. It has 4002 pieces, stands 35cm (13”) high at its tallest point, and contains a world of small details. For me, the most exciting aspect was its outdoor area; up until now all Modulars have faced directly onto the street. Assembly square allows the citizens of Legonium a public place in which to sit, meet and converse.

As you can see, Assembly Square is surrounded by buildings. I am a big fan of the Latin Verb cingo cingere cinxi cinctum to surround, to encircle. I also like cingulum which is a girdle or sword-belt, but is often used in contemporary Latin to mean a belt of any kind. The buildings around Assembly Square are each three stories high. The building to the left contains - from the bottom up - a café, to which our characters are heading, a music store and a dance studio. The building to the right contains a bakery, a dentist surgery and Jessica’s apartment (seen in episode nine). The middle building contains a florist, a photography studio and Jessica’s balcony. Jessica’s apartment was built to be the home of a Lego enthusiast, and comes equipped with mini Lego models, including an Eiffel Tower, which you can just make out here.

Lest this post be entirely about Lego, here is the Roman architectural writer Vitruvius on designing a forum;

There is a custom established by our ancestors of holding gladiatorial displays in the forum. Because of this, the space between the columns should be widened for better viewing. Place shops for bankers in the surrounding porticoes, and include viewing balconies on the upper stories; such arrangement are both convenient and bring in public revenue. Architecture 5.1.1

See the forum! The delightful forum is surrounded by many beautiful buildings. In the middle of the forum is a very beautiful fountain. Miranda is leading them to the café.