The houses of Safe Places in Lego 1998-2008

By Rob van der Bijl

The 10th anniversary of Safe Places

The houses of Safe Places in Lego represent a basic feature of our professional view. The cute and clear Lego bricks mark our approach to safety probably better than any other material. Lego also relates to joy and beauty and the many fine colours of Lego create clear forms and images. We are proud to present our Lego houses as a celebration of the 10th anniversary of Safe Places.

Our logo (House I)

House I was published on the internet in March 1998 and served as the logo for Safe Places ever since. It depicts a simple form of safe living. Its Lego construction symbolises a clear and transparent structure. We designed House I to express our basic understanding of safety, as something that should be owned by inhabitants and other common users. The built environment, or architecture, or constructions like a house must be evident, honest and clear. Lego as a simple and straightforward building material represents such conditions for safety better than any other substance we could think of.

Happy living (House II)

'Happy living' is the theme of our second house. Like House I it serves as a logo, but moreover it expresses the basic conditions of safety too. Originally we designed this house as logo for our series of 'link sheets' that cover a wide range of subjects on the internet. Today we conceive this house primarily as an elaborated version of House I. It expresses a far more important feature of safety than mere technical or built conditions, because House II symbolises happiness regarding the actual use and the state of mind of its users particularly. No safety without happiness!

The house of Leo

Amsterdam is a safe and liveable city. The house of Leo (translated to Lego by Leo Dorst) symbolises these qualities due to its Lego construction and form. It's a Lego version of an existing canal house hosting a prostitute business in its basement. Though such an enterprise is generally conceived as being related to crime and non-safety, the house serves as dwelling for Leo and his family, and performs truly a safe habitat. Learn more about this project here…

The house for Ageeth (House III)

We designed House III as a present for our friend Ageeth. She liked it very much and the Lego form surely contributed to her happiness. Ageeth didn't feel unsafe and the present was not related deliberately to Safe Places, though the design certainly was inspired by characteristics of our logo-houses number I and II.

Yoppa House

We spotted this house on the internet and named it after the possible designer 'Yoppa'. We like the Yoppa House very much. It owns a simple and clear structure, while Lego has been used efficiently to articulate the transparent form and structure. So far we don't know the designer. We guess the Yoppa House originates from Japan. Any reply or comment of its creator is welcome. Please mail us here…

House IV: sustainable and safe

After ten years of Safe Places we want to make a statement and using the Lego vocabulary again. Our first creation in Lego served and still serves as a logo. However, House IV shows a more ambitious enterprise. Beyond a Lego, toy-like construction this design represents the broad scope of Safe Places. Indeed, Safe Places is dedicated to safety within a comprehensive perspective. It's all about safe living, working, playing and being. And Safe Places isn't promoting mere technical issues and approaches. Safety is conceived as a holistic phenomenon, incorporating many features and subjects of nowadays society. In short, safety presupposes sustainability.

Contrary to House I, II and III, we designed this house as a serious projection of a real house, in other words, a house that could be built.
House IV is sustainable and safe. Its central volume has been lifted from ground floor level, therefore preventing easy access for burglars and other violators of property, but beyond crime prevention, the lifted structure of House IV allows a habitat that can cope with floods quite easily. We didn't determine its location yet, but it isn't hard to imagine the site of House IV is somewhere in a river basin.
The volume on level 1 hosts the living area which is oriented in one direction mainly and offers a magnificent view through a coloured glassed facade. At the opposite site this façade is mirrored in a small eye-like window that allows a powerful beam of daylight cutting through the entire building volume. Its solid body is capable of storing energy and regulating different levels of temperature. This 'home body' represents an efficient balance of energy. On the roof the mounted structures show the many wireless connections, as well as equipments of House IV. Perhaps this house could cope with an 'Antartic' environment too! House IV is fully self supporting.

More houses

We are not sure whether new Lego designs will be made for Safe Places. But we do invite our visitors to send us their creative Lego products. Meanwhile we try to elaborate House IV, though probably not in Lego… To be continued…

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
This text is compiled by Rob van der Bijl (RVDB) to celibrate the 10th anniversary of Safe Places.
Special thanks to Yoppa and Leo Dorst.
All other photos, and all texts: (C) Rob van der Bijl/VWNL/SAFEPLACES, 2008

LINKS


The Lego House of Leo...

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