Project Origins

The idea of creating a fishing village came from my passion for the United States and nature. I wanted to create a unique set that would reflect my passion for typical American architecture, but also incorporate context and natural elements, and that could also complement a city or simply be a nice display piece. I immediately thought of the colorful villages of Maine, a little isolated along the northeast coast of the United States.

Design Process:

Once the idea was launched, I did a lot of research on Maine villages to create a set that was as authentic as possible and faithful to the spirit of these small coastal villages. The village had to incorporate iconic elements such as a lighthouse or a lobster restaurant, which is the region's specialty, but I also wanted original elements never seen in any other Lego set.

The main challenge was to integrate all these elements into a single set and find an interesting overall shape. I didn't want just a flat, rectilinear village, but something more organic. I started with the lighthouse, which was a technical challenge due to its octagonal shape. The souvenir shop also required some effort due to its structure, made entirely of SNOT; it's also the most impressive building. I wanted to create a fun set to build, so I developed different construction techniques specific to each building (including one that uses LEGO technic elements for the walls). The set contains a huge number of different NPU (nice part use) in order to offer a diverse and fun building experience.

The choice of colors was also essential. I wanted to create a colorful yet harmonious set, so I used a mix of bright and pastel colors with shades of blue and pink to achieve the best possible blend. The red color used on several key elements allowed me to balance the project's color scheme by adding more liveliness and concealment to the overall effect.

The Set :

The village therefore includes three buildings: a gift and souvenir shop, a lobster restaurant with a watercolor studio upstairs, and a general store with the captain's quarters upstairs. The project also includes a small wooden lighthouse and a small fishing boat. Each building is independent and can be combined differently with the others to create a different village or even to create other buildings that can complete the village.

With this set, I also wanted to pay homage to the other maritime-themed sets, such as the old fishing store, the lighthouse, and the earth globe, which was designed by my brother!