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Architecture

This European Town Was Built to Resemble Lego Blocks

The architects allowed nostalgia guide their creative decisions

By Jessica Cherner

November 2, 2021

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Aerial view of the colorful buildings in european city at sunset.
Cityscape with multicolored houses cars on the street...
Comfort Town is a new, supremely colorful city within a city in Kyiv
whose design was inspired by Legos. Photo: Getty Images

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There's a reason Legoland parks saw a whopping 15.7 million visitors
one year: There's something satisfying--even awe-striking--about the
impressive structures made using nothing more than the tiny, colorful
rectangles that simply snap into place. Legos aren't just attracting
the attention of kids whose parents would rather have them actively
building something neat using their hands than lounging in bed
watching cartoons; skilled architects--specifically Dmytro Vasyliev,
Aleksandr Popov, Olga Alfiorova at Eastern European firm Archimatika
--are also turning towards the blocks. The architects at Archimatika
found inspiration in the thumbnail-size building blocks for their
newest project: Comfort Town, a housing project in Kyiv, Ukraine.

Scenic view of colorful buildings in winter

The colorful town is located in Ukraine.

Photo: Oleh_Slobodeniuk/Getty Images

The project took a whopping 11 years to complete, but the city is
grateful because the space used to be quite an unsightly industrial
zone. When they took on the project, the architectural firm's goal
was to develop the unfortunate-looking area in the middle of a
bustling Ukrainian city into a beautiful residential block that,
above all things, would be sellable--even in a time of crisis.

The architects were offered free reign to transform the area into a
place where people would actually want to live, so it's no surprise
that the team built what kind of looks like a Lego town. And with
buildings that are beautifully painted in a combination of bright,
attention-grabbing shades and easy-on-the-eyes pastels, Comfort Town
is hard to miss. Plus, it boasts a sense of serenity with all of the
spaces divided by streets and courtyards so that it doesn't feel too
cramped (like actual Lego towns sometimes do).

Image may contain Landscape Outdoors Nature Scenery Road Aerial View
City Town Urban Building and Metropolis

The layout irradiates a sense of serenity with all of the spaces
divided by streets and courtyards so that it doesn't feel too
cramped.

Photo: den-belitsky/Getty Images

Not to mention: Like any complex within a city, Comfort Town has a
14,763-square-foot retail section that features a sizable fitness
club and a 3.7-acre outdoor sports facility. There are also cafes,
stores, and offices on the lower floors of the apartment buildings.
In other words, it's the perfect town. And that's hardly a matter of
opinion. The new town has been heavily embraced by the city's younger
generations of families and city-dwelling professionals enjoying a
more European lifestyle over the Soviet-like one that has been so
heavily ingrained in the city.

In keeping with the minimalist flavor of the city, the architects
opted for buildings with simple geometric-inspired shapes and
completely flat exteriors. However, although residents may have had
to sacrifice luxuries such as balconies and a few architecturally
decorative elements, Comfort Town is exactly what its name promises
it is: Easy living. Archimatika even restored some preexisting
elements, like the park that now includes a collection of blooming
perennial trees, sculptures, and a fountain.

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