My process begins with digital drafting. Each LEGO part is placed deliberately in digital software. By working first in a digital layout, I can think unencumbered by the inconsiderate laws of gravity and tension. I start each piece at the most difficult point to create.

For 'Spill Life', that was the inkwell and its supporting structure. Once the draft is complete, I digitally render the piece to better understand positioning and lighting. When I am visually satisfied with the piece, I begin structural testing with parts I have in my studio. This often leads to minor optimizations and small tweaks. In this case, the inkwell needed significant adjustment to reduce its weight so as to not cause stress on the plastic over time. Once fixed and properly tested, the final parts were purchased and the ultimate piece was built, wiped of fingerprints, and photographed.

'Pareidolia' began with a digital drafting sprint. The digital layout was created in less than 10 hours in an attempt to make a digital render for a submission deadline. The speed in which the digital draft was completed created a much more tedious testing and optimization process, as several small part connections needed to be corrected.

Replacing a single LEGO part can cause a cascade of changes. In my physical testing, several of the external tiles were inverted due to poor clutch power, and many of the internal supports had to be adapted to support this minor external change. The most visible change from my initial digital render came from the spires, which used a white Harry Potter wand at the topmost point. That part immediately fell crooked due to a lack of support and had to be replaced with a thicker bar, changing the final profile of the piece.

Pareidolia shows the ability to adapt process. Shortening one phase often results in lengthening others, but the result can be just as successful when that process is malleable. This piece is the fourth installment in a series of micro-cities that aim to capture a glimpse of humanity through architecture.