Micro CEEC AWZ Jena – kit from LEGO® bricks

CEEC AWZ Jena – Center for Energy and Environmental Chemistry with Application Center, CEEC AWZ Jena

This new building for the Friedrich Schiller University in Jena was designed and built by the architectural firm Telluride Architektur, with offices in Berlin, Düsseldorf and Munich. In the summer of 2023, I, as The Brick Translator, was commissioned to recreate the building from LEGO bricks, in two versions: once on an approximate scale of 1:350, and once as a micro version.

In its original form, the new building includes "special laboratories for research into new batteries, printed solar cells and an energy conversion façade," according to the descriptive text from Telluride Architecture. The center of the building is the so-called Center of Gravity (CoG), which is located between the two areas for theory (CEEC II) and practice (AWZ). The facades are aligned towards this area, with the windows and their frames having a distinctive shape. The area of the CoG, which serves as a meeting space for the building's users, also attracts the viewer's attention both from the outside and inside.

The implementation with LEGO bricks was a big challenge, as it was important to not make the model too big, but also to represent the essential architectural elements. This resulted in the model shown, which, with around 1,900 bricks and a length of almost 30 centimeters, is one of the largest construction sets that I had created to date.

The micro version was also created at the suggestion of Telluride architect and managing partner Hubert Juranek. Like many others, he grew up with LEGO and traces his career as an architect back to his involvement with LEGO bricks in his childhood and youth. Hubert had seen micro models by other designers and suggested one of them for this building. Despite its compactness, this one also manages to express the essential feature, namely the Center of Gravity.

Both models are available in my range. If you have any questions about the original, Hubert and his team at Telluride Architecture will be happy to help, and if you are interested in a model of this type for your purposes, be it as an architect, building owner or architecture fan, please contact me, The Brick Translator.

• Number of original LEGO® bricks: 50
• Dimensions of the model: 3.3 x 8.0 x 3.8 cm

The model of the research center is a self-developed LEGO® creation (MOC) of mine and is available exclusively from The Brick Translator.

This kit contains the LEGO® bricks for a model of the research center including building instructions.