The process of this project began with the researching the aesthetic of the mosaic. Which traces its roots back to the ancient world, such as in Greece, capturing the stories from their mythology.
From ancient Greece, the style was continued on throughout the Roman empire, eventually finding its way into several different religious traditions.
[2] Ancient Christian mosaic 
[3] The Dome of the Rock
The main thing about this that caught my attention was the process of creating the mosaics. It is a style that takes many individual pieces that on their own aren’t anything special. But when put together they create a large beautiful picture comprised of the smaller non-special pieces.
The process of how the image is formed was the base inspiration for what type of project I wanted to attempt. The next question was what to attempt to capture within the mosaic, as well as how to create it? The answer to the first question came when I stumbled across this picture:
Remembering my old love of LEGOs, and how many I had laying around, it was the perfect material to create a mosaic out of. The last question was what to create. The inspiration for that came from my visit to the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception. While there I saw many amazing mosaics depicting different apparitions of the Virgin Mary, such as the Immaculate heart and Mary, Queen of Missions.
[5] 
[6]
Seeing these mosaics, and knowing the history of the mosaic within religious traditions, as well as the personal significance of these specific mosaics I knew I wanted to attempt to recreate a religious work in LEGO. I finally decided on the following picture to attempt to recreate, which is the Immaculate Heart of Mary.
Having the image and the material determined it was then time to begin the process of putting it all together.
[8] 
[9] 
[10]
Beginning with the large green piece I had a canvas to build the mosaic on. Then it was time to gather the pieces. After this I started with building the base of the heart, then working up to the other details, finishing with the final product.
The overall design process was pretty straightforward, just add one piece at a time, continually adjusting as the overall work came together into the final product.
Final Presentation
https://astrolore.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/705px-Sousse_neptune.jpg
[2]
https://www.historians.org/Images/Teaching%20and%20Learning/Teaching%20and%20Learning%20in%20Digital%20Age/Christ.jpg
[3]
https://blog.mozaico.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/gohistoric_42002_m-750×509.jpg
[4]
https://disneybricks.blogspot.com/2012/08/mosaic.html?spref=pi
[5],[6] taken by me at the Basilica National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception
[7]
https://www.womenofgrace.com/blog/?p=63467
[8],[9],[10],[11] taken by me of the project
10 Comments. Leave new
This project was a very cool thought. I have always loved building with legos and would love to work on a similar mosaic project like this. I wonder how you could use the 3D aspect of legos to make this project even crazier.
Max,
Really great execution! Seeing where your inspiration came from and how you got to see the mosaics in DC. Using legos definitely stays true to the upcycle topic. I loved how the final product came together. I really think you should frame it with “Aesthetics of Design 2019” under it as like a memory piece.
Nice! I like how you translated your inspiration of religious mosaics into something you could easily prototype, like legos. I wonder if you could scale this up and include a lot more detail by having a higher ‘resolution’ of legos.
This project is super cool! Would you ever consider making a bigger one out of legos? Maybe one that is the size of a wall or the size of a real mosaic.
The inspiration for this project was very interesting. The product turned out with a unique aesthetic. I look forward to seeing what you plan on doing with this, and where this project will take you in the future.
Awesome presentation, explained very well where your inspiration came from and what significance it had to you. I really liked the LEGO heart you brought with you as it was made in a very well manner. Are you thinking of adding to this aesthetic more, like creating an entire mosaic of the painting you saw?
You gave a good explanation of your reason for doing this project. Seems like there are cool options for expanding this project.
This was a really cool and inspired project. It was nice to see the history of mosaic design in your presentation. It’s cool that you were able to carry out the whole design process in your head, but it would have been nice to see some insight into this process during your presentation.
I like how your design was something important to you and your idea of how an individual piece doesn’t represent anything, but the pieces together make an image. I wonder if appearance wise it would have looked better if you increased the size to include more detail. However, the final product was great.
I like the simplicity of the project. You were resourceful to use the legos that you had. Did you consider making it any larger or were you limited on materials? Great Job!