The LEGO The Lord of the Rings: Rivendell set is a 6167-piece testament to the greatest epic story ever told. As discussed in our We Build LEGO Rivendell feature, this is a set that favors accuracy, detail, and atmosphere over play functions. It is an exhaustive build, demanding painstaking focus to ensure every detail pops in the manner intended. And the final result is worth the figurative journey to achieve it.
It makes sense, therefore, that the designer behind this set is an "AFOL"—a self-identifying acronym for "Adult Fan of LEGO," especially one who creates original builds and contributes to the wider fan community. Today, there are many adult-targeted sets. But back in the early '00s, it was AFOLs who pushed the LEGO company to explicitly cater to an older audience. The result was the Café Corner, a modular building that integrated advanced building techniques into a single, comprehensive set. It did well enough that LEGO continued releasing them, at the rate of one per year. The most recent modular building was The Jazz Club, launched earlier in 2023.
Michael Psiaki—who designed the Rivendell set along with Chris Perron, Wes Talbott, and a team of graphics artists—was co-designer on the LEGO Downtown Diner (10260), the 13th building in the modular series. He's also responsible for the LEGO Creator Carousel (10257), the build that turned this author into an adult LEGO fan. His trademark attention to whimsical, idiosyncratic detail is apparent throughout his builds, and in many ways, the Rivendell build feels like a culmination of his 10-year career at LEGO thus far.
The first set Psiaki ever owned was the LEGO Hydro Racer (6537), which he received for his fifth birthday. Nearly all of his childhood memories involve LEGO building and LEGO bricks, the result of having two older brothers who both built LEGO as a hobby.
"My brothers and I would spend hours building cities and secret bases with our LEGO bricks," said Psiaki. We especially liked to make things inspired by James Bond’s gadgets, especially his cars."
Psiaki would later work on the LEGO Creator Expert Aston Martin DB5 (10262), one of the first times he was able to integrate his childhood memories into his professional life. And this connection—between childhood interests and adult pursuits—is what ultimately led him to become a LEGO designer.
"I studied engineering in University, which was super fun, but afterwards, I spent 3 years working in systems and mechanical engineering," said Psiaki. "I was looking for something different to do, so when I saw a job posting at the LEGO Group, my wife encouraged me to apply, the rest is history."
Making a LEGO set like Rivendell starts with going back to the source material—Tolkien's books, but especially Peter Jackson's The Lord of the Rings movie trilogy. And when rewatching the films, Psiaki noticed several new details, which he was then able to integrate into the final LEGO model. You can watch the Rivendell scene here.
"I never picked up on the location of the plinth that holds the shards of Narsil," said Psiaki. "It is very close to Elrond’s Council ring, and we were able to give it its ‘correct’ location in this model. If you watch the council scenes [in the film] very carefully, you can see it in the background."
Making a LEGO set like Rivendell starts with going back to the source material—Tolkien's books, but especially Peter Jackson's The Lord of the Rings movie trilogy.
"We also did a lot of study of Gimli’s axes," Psiaki continued. "His iconic double-headed battle ax is not acquired until the Fellowship first encounters orcs in the mines of Moria. We also noticed that Gimli, and all the other dwarves present at the council meeting, brought their axes with them. I guess dwarves are not very trusting of elves."
From there, the team entered a drafting phase, which began with a preliminary, digital design on a computer. Psiaki estimates this was two to three days of work. Then, there was a physical phase, where the team created a proof-of-concept model, complete with all the small details they wanted to include. This process took three months.
Then, the team began a hybrid process of looping between the physical and digital models to refine into our final product—another three months of work. The "final gateway," was a weeklong meeting, in which the team presented the model to a panel of building experience and quality coaches. The team members built through every brick of the model, discussing as they went.
Along with his co-designers, Psiaki has built the final version of the model four times. The team also built four different development versions as part of the design process, for a total of eight Rivendell builds.
In following this process of redrafting and revisement, the team ran into several challenges.
"There are many fine details in Rivendell that are very difficult to build from rectangular LEGO bricks," said Psiaki. "So, the designers used specialized pieces to capture these details. The Gazebo overlooking the river and the ring chairs in Elrond’s Council are built from sausages and ice cream elements to get the right shapes."
"Another challenge we faced was how to integrate the bedroom into the model," continued Psiaki. "Our initial design had a larger cut corner on the back, connecting the tower to the main house. It created a very awkward looking and awkward-to-build area. In the end, we stumbled on the solution of making the model split open to give access to the bedroom. That meant we could include an entire façade on the end of the model, which was a super cool upgrade."
Design is not for the faint-hearted; it takes a lot of hard work to make something this fun. And Psiaki hopes that builders will feel the impact of that effort.
"When I first saw The Fellowship of the Ring in the movie theater I was blown away," said Psiaki. "For 14-year-old me, who had grown up reading and rereading Tolkien’s books, seeing it adapted to film in such an incredible way was indescribably cool. I was transported to a universe that I knew and loved, but in an entirely new way. We tried our best to capture that awe and magic in this LEGO model, both in the way the final piece looks, but also in the journey you will take constructing it."
LEGO The Lord of the Rings: Rivendell, Set #10316, retails for $499.99. It is composed of 6167 pieces and was designed by LEGO designer Michael Psiaki and a team of designers and artists. It is available now.
Also check out our picks for the best Star Wars LEGO sets, as well as the best Harry Potter LEGO sets.
Continue reading...
It makes sense, therefore, that the designer behind this set is an "AFOL"—a self-identifying acronym for "Adult Fan of LEGO," especially one who creates original builds and contributes to the wider fan community. Today, there are many adult-targeted sets. But back in the early '00s, it was AFOLs who pushed the LEGO company to explicitly cater to an older audience. The result was the Café Corner, a modular building that integrated advanced building techniques into a single, comprehensive set. It did well enough that LEGO continued releasing them, at the rate of one per year. The most recent modular building was The Jazz Club, launched earlier in 2023.
Michael Psiaki—who designed the Rivendell set along with Chris Perron, Wes Talbott, and a team of graphics artists—was co-designer on the LEGO Downtown Diner (10260), the 13th building in the modular series. He's also responsible for the LEGO Creator Carousel (10257), the build that turned this author into an adult LEGO fan. His trademark attention to whimsical, idiosyncratic detail is apparent throughout his builds, and in many ways, the Rivendell build feels like a culmination of his 10-year career at LEGO thus far.
The first set Psiaki ever owned was the LEGO Hydro Racer (6537), which he received for his fifth birthday. Nearly all of his childhood memories involve LEGO building and LEGO bricks, the result of having two older brothers who both built LEGO as a hobby.
"My brothers and I would spend hours building cities and secret bases with our LEGO bricks," said Psiaki. We especially liked to make things inspired by James Bond’s gadgets, especially his cars."
Psiaki would later work on the LEGO Creator Expert Aston Martin DB5 (10262), one of the first times he was able to integrate his childhood memories into his professional life. And this connection—between childhood interests and adult pursuits—is what ultimately led him to become a LEGO designer.
"I studied engineering in University, which was super fun, but afterwards, I spent 3 years working in systems and mechanical engineering," said Psiaki. "I was looking for something different to do, so when I saw a job posting at the LEGO Group, my wife encouraged me to apply, the rest is history."
Making a LEGO set like Rivendell starts with going back to the source material—Tolkien's books, but especially Peter Jackson's The Lord of the Rings movie trilogy. And when rewatching the films, Psiaki noticed several new details, which he was then able to integrate into the final LEGO model. You can watch the Rivendell scene here.
"I never picked up on the location of the plinth that holds the shards of Narsil," said Psiaki. "It is very close to Elrond’s Council ring, and we were able to give it its ‘correct’ location in this model. If you watch the council scenes [in the film] very carefully, you can see it in the background."
Making a LEGO set like Rivendell starts with going back to the source material—Tolkien's books, but especially Peter Jackson's The Lord of the Rings movie trilogy.
"We also did a lot of study of Gimli’s axes," Psiaki continued. "His iconic double-headed battle ax is not acquired until the Fellowship first encounters orcs in the mines of Moria. We also noticed that Gimli, and all the other dwarves present at the council meeting, brought their axes with them. I guess dwarves are not very trusting of elves."
From there, the team entered a drafting phase, which began with a preliminary, digital design on a computer. Psiaki estimates this was two to three days of work. Then, there was a physical phase, where the team created a proof-of-concept model, complete with all the small details they wanted to include. This process took three months.
Then, the team began a hybrid process of looping between the physical and digital models to refine into our final product—another three months of work. The "final gateway," was a weeklong meeting, in which the team presented the model to a panel of building experience and quality coaches. The team members built through every brick of the model, discussing as they went.
Along with his co-designers, Psiaki has built the final version of the model four times. The team also built four different development versions as part of the design process, for a total of eight Rivendell builds.
In following this process of redrafting and revisement, the team ran into several challenges.
"There are many fine details in Rivendell that are very difficult to build from rectangular LEGO bricks," said Psiaki. "So, the designers used specialized pieces to capture these details. The Gazebo overlooking the river and the ring chairs in Elrond’s Council are built from sausages and ice cream elements to get the right shapes."
"Another challenge we faced was how to integrate the bedroom into the model," continued Psiaki. "Our initial design had a larger cut corner on the back, connecting the tower to the main house. It created a very awkward looking and awkward-to-build area. In the end, we stumbled on the solution of making the model split open to give access to the bedroom. That meant we could include an entire façade on the end of the model, which was a super cool upgrade."
Design is not for the faint-hearted; it takes a lot of hard work to make something this fun. And Psiaki hopes that builders will feel the impact of that effort.
"When I first saw The Fellowship of the Ring in the movie theater I was blown away," said Psiaki. "For 14-year-old me, who had grown up reading and rereading Tolkien’s books, seeing it adapted to film in such an incredible way was indescribably cool. I was transported to a universe that I knew and loved, but in an entirely new way. We tried our best to capture that awe and magic in this LEGO model, both in the way the final piece looks, but also in the journey you will take constructing it."
LEGO The Lord of the Rings: Rivendell, Set #10316, retails for $499.99. It is composed of 6167 pieces and was designed by LEGO designer Michael Psiaki and a team of designers and artists. It is available now.
Also check out our picks for the best Star Wars LEGO sets, as well as the best Harry Potter LEGO sets.
Continue reading...