This building consists of approximately 2,000 pieces
About this creation
This is my fifth custom skyscraper model and my seventeenth overall. The Chicago Board of Trade Building is a 605 ft tall art deco styled skyscraper that was built in 1930. The building was originally built for the Chicago Board of Trade. Today, it serves as the primary trading venue for the CME Group, a company formed in 2007 as a result of the merger between CBOT and the Chicago Mercantile Exchange. It was declared a Chicago landmark in 1977 as well as added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1978.
This is my eighth Chicago skyscraper model. Being that the other seven are all post-1950 buildings, I wanted to diversify my Chicago collection a bit by making a model of one of the original Chicago landmarks. The Board of Trade Building's art deco style and unique vaulted roof, along with other notable features, inspired me to make a model of it. This is the result, after nearly twenty hours of design time, about four hours of building time, and an overall month to complete. Model completed January 19, 2012.
More photos on Brickshelf
Construction photos here
LEGO® Digital Designer file here
 The surrounding plaza features the Statue of Industry and the Statue of Agriculture interpreted in the model using two white tile clips.
 The tall bay windows at the lower floors of the building presented an immediate challenge in building the model. I was able to accurately depict this feature using a wide variety of various half-stud offsetting both straight-up and SNOT. I also utilized one of the new 1x1 round tiles for the clock at the first setback.
 I used similar techniques for the sides of the building while incorporating the fire escape details with rail plates and hinges, as well as distinct recesses in the façade using the short sides of 1x2 log bricks. At the plaza level, I used some leftover 1x2 sand red plates from my Sears Tower model for the base of several foliage boxes along the street.
 The Chicago Board of Trade Building was the city's tallest building for over thirty-five years. It was surpassed by the Richard J. Daley Center (also one of my models) in 1965 by only forty-three feet. It was also the first building in Chicago to exceed 600 feet.
 The upper setbacks were probably the most challenging aspect of the model. I intentionally offset certain elements by half or whole studs to allow for more setbacks, which is one of the trademarks of art deco style buildings. Atop the vaulted roof, which utilizes sand blue elements, stands the three-story statue of Ceres, the goddess of agriculture, specifically wheat.
 The lower portion of the backside of the building shares a boundary with one of the plaza's supporting buildings, hence the generic black wall. The plaza underwent significant expansion in 1980 with the addition of a postmodern style building directly behind the existing CBOT Building, and again in 1997 with a six-story addition to the southeast corner of the block. My original plan was to incorporate the entire complex, however, that prospect soon turned bleak when I realized that most of the other buildings' façades are primarily covered in reflective black glass. In order to do these buildings properly, I'll have to wait until LEGO® starts reproducing trans-black plates. Though with the recent unveiling of the upcoming Sydney Opera House Architecture Set, I may be in luck!
 One final look at the iconic Chicago landmark!
Comments
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Thanks for your reply, I've been considering an architectural project for a while on a large scale. I've explored and had deals done over bricklink but never purchased individual elements. For the amount of pieces these buildings require, isn't bricklink a bit pricey?
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I made it |
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February 25, 2012 |
Quoting Jason H.
Where do the majority of your pieces come from? Lego PaB, Bricklink?
I get the majority from bricklink, the minority from LEGO store PAB walls (I live near four different stores), and a small portion from my stock of left-over pieces from dismantled sets. |
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I like it |
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February 25, 2012 |
Very nice model, I have seen this building in person before and this microscale represents it quite well.
Where do the majority of your pieces come from? Lego PaB, Bricklink? |
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I like it |
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January 24, 2012 |
The god of micro scale strikes again, nice work dude. You ever thought of putting them all together? |
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I like it |
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January 23, 2012 |
Wonderful building, top detailing! |
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I like it |
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January 22, 2012 |
A beautiful building, and you've recreated it so perfectly. The amount of detail is incredible, I love it! Also, thanks for the preview to the opera house set, I hadn't seen that one yet, looks intriguing |
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I like it |
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January 22, 2012 |
Beautiful microscale. That color really looks great with it. |
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I like it |
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January 21, 2012 |
fantastic how much detail you'v captured with this build. outstanding work. |
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I like it |
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January 21, 2012 |
Fantastic! |
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I like it |
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January 21, 2012 |
Perfection.. as always! :) |
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I like it |
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January 20, 2012 |
Fantastic construction and technique. Excellent use of pieces. |
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I like it |
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January 20, 2012 |
This is a really nice design. The fire escape technique is rather ingenious. I would make the shared wall either all black or tan for better visual aesthetics - even if you do eventually build the adjoining building. |
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I like it |
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January 20, 2012 |
Lovely build! The way you captured the small details is stunning. |
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I like it |
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January 20, 2012 |
Wow, just amazing Rocco, you did it again! I was wondering if you would do this building or not, Do you have any plans to make part of the LaSalle Street canyon, since the building ends there? Also, Hows the WFC going? ;) (BTW, this is Sam, I'm protesting against SOPA) |
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I like it |
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January 20, 2012 |
Just fantastic! |
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