Senior House Courtyard (LEGO Contracting Gig™) (2021)
In early May 2021, some of us were only starting to get our first COVID vaccinations, so Steer Roast, the annual tradition from the MIT dorm Senior House since 1963, was virtual for the second year in a row. I took advantage of this to host a virtual event that I billed as "Your friendly neighborhood LEGO contractor--you think it, I build it!" It turned out to be a popular event, inspiring my ever-upcoming plans to do this again on Twitch. The people who came were inspired by the nostalgia of Steer Roasts past, and component by component people described parts of the Senior House Courtyard they wanted me to build. As I built, I would explain my design decisions and ideas, and respond to feedback as I built. So let's dive into this resulting eclectic scene!
First let's talk about this centerpiece--the eponymous steer being roasted. I originally made it a hunk of read meat (ie, a red brick construction featuring red bricks with round holes connected by red 2x4 plates on an axle). I was informed that we actually roast steer legs, and due to a comical miscommunication, I just added red legs to the hunk of meat, having understood that legs are involved somewhere in the process. The spit was over a fire pit comprised of loose red, orange, and yellow 1x1 plates, some smooth, some studded, some angled, to give the impression of embers below. And of course there had to be a few flames shooting up.
The feedback I give myself by building something gives me ideas for general improvements. The constraint as a LEGO contractor is, of course, finding the right bricks in a timely manner. I was able to switch things out and use red bricks with axle holes so that making a rotating spit actually...rotated what was on the spit (wild).
When that was built to everyone's satisfaction, the next suggestion was the courtyard's legendary tire swing. This hopefully answers your question from watching the previous video and wondering what that blue guy is doing. (Disclaimer: blue guy is actually from a Power Rangers Mega Blocks set. Apologies to the LEGO company. My bricks are all from sets I was gifted, and I never get to use a Power Ranger in any context other than here, at virtual Roast, since at in-person Roast several people wear costumes and whatnot. I haven't seen a Power Ranger at Roast though--we usually go for original, unlicensed ideas.)
Anyway, just like in real life, the tire swing was attached to a very tall tree with branches very high up.
I am so glad I was organized enough to find the one brick I have with the "rope" (well, string, at this scale) with the hook. I don't really remember which set it came from. Might've been an Avatar: The Last Airbender set. Regardless, I used that and a small rubber wheel to complete the task. (The wheel's size was the best it was going to get in terms of scale and wheels I owned, since the others were too big, but in real life the person would fit into the hole of the wheel.)
The LEGO version of the Senior House courtyard tree
The name of the video comes from an...encouragement of sorts throughout the dorm's history. "Give blood to the tree". And wrapping around the tree is indeed how the swinging was done, so, one could see that happening easily.
Finally, there was the tree on the left--the courtyard's magnolia tree. I admit, as you can tell from all the previous builds on my blog, I hadn't spent any time making trees before this. Regardless, like with everything else I'd built so far, I talked to the attendees about my build decisions while I was making them, and ended up actually quite satisfied with the results, given the constraints. I knew I had several brown arches and hinges and whatnot, so the real question was just how to compose them organically.
Part of the organic nature of the scene is having a loose flower on the ground, as one would in real life. The flowers were comprised of red translucent round 1x1 plates and white opaque 1x1s, either round or square (depending on how much the flower had bloomed). The leaf details were limited by what I had available, but I think that at least also adds an organic touch to the tree, so i distributed the green 1x1 plates semi-randomly. An important note here is that I had no reference image, so the details of the flowers came from one of the attendees (or, I suppose, one of my clients) describing it verbally as she watched me build.
Overall, for the constraints (time, primarily, to think quickly in response to suggestions and work within the limitations of the bricks I already own), I think it turned out pretty well, and all of my clients gave positive reviews. Maybe I'll make some business cards for this gig.
The 3D experience of a Senior House (MIT dorm) mural (shown below the "Keep Reading"). The different color patterns in the brain are actually each letters. In the original, they spell out SPORT DEATH 2HNC. I changed it slightly for my shirt--SPORT DEATH 4EVER. Each letter actually has the stripes as ridges for a 3D construction, and each fabric is pseudo-iridescent in that from different angles they appear different, which was also an advantage in making the ridges. The sparkly "goop" also hangs over the eye rather than being flat, and all of the goop is raised and rounded to add to that 3D construction. The teeth, as always, spell out "ONLY LIFE CAN KILL YOU", although the "CAN" is hard to see in this picture because the one drawback of a shirt specifically is that it's affected by the shape of the body inside it.
Fun facts:
1. All of the letters were hand-sewn so that each letter would have thread matching its color scheme
2. I went to 5-6 different fabric stores across Brooklyn and Manhattan to get all of the fabrics--just under 20 total.
This weekend, my friend Yining and I photographed Steer Roast at the MIT dorm Senior Haus for MIT's student-run newspaper, The Tech. However, because I goofily misplaced the pictures in the wrong submission folder they never made it into the issue. I liked them too much not to release them into the world somehow, though.
Steer Roast is a now 50-year long tradition. It's a weekend-long party every semester, a celebration of Senior Haus culture and people. There are a ton of live performances (spanning music, comedy, anything people would like to show), art installations around the dorm, a bonfire, and, of course, many steers are roasted and the weekend culminates with a feast. It's a lot of fun and I'm really glad I got the chance to go and photograph it.
