Behind the Bricks: Secrets of the Piraka Stronghold

Behind the Bricks: Secrets of the Piraka Stronghold
Magazine Article
Issue	November-December 2006

Behind the Bricks: Secrets of the Piraka Stronghold was an article in the November-December 2006 edition of the LEGO Magazine. The article featured excerpts from an interview with LEGO designer Torben Skov about the Piraka Stronghold set, as well as a few blurbs describing the set's features.

Contents

Ever wonder what goes into designing a BIONICLE battleset like the Piraka Stronghold? So did we - so we went to the expert, LEGO Model Designer Torben Skov!

Torben works in Billund, Denmark, global headquarters of The LEGO Company, and has been designing models for 20 years. He's been on the BIONICLE team for two years, after spending time designing models for LEGO City, Life on Mars, Sports, and Knights' Kingdom, among others.

What does it take to be a LEGO set designer? Patience, skill with and knowledge of LEGO elements, and most of all, creativity and imagination. Most set designers have background in art, architecture, or design.

Designing a model like the Piraka Stronghold isn't as easy as you might think, because it's much more than just putting pieces together. First, the designer must know all about the universe he is working in - in this case, BIONICLE. What fits and what doesn't? How would a stronghold built by Piraka look?

After that's decided, the real work begins. "Elements must be developed," says Torben. "Models must be digitalized and elements counted before you can build for the first time." It's important to know how many new pieces a model will require, because that affects how much extra work will go into producing it and what it will cost to make.

Once the pieces have been decided upon and approved, the model starts getting tested. Some of these are product safety tests, others are groups of fans. A typical BIONICLE fan test group consists of fans from ages 8-12, some who own a lot of BIONICLE sets and some who only own a few. They are asked to give their opinion of every aspect of the model and whether or not it is something they would want to own. Based on what comes out of these meetings, designers may need to go back and make changes. If the focus tests come back positive, then work can start on any decorations needed for the pieces.

After that is done, building instructions are made and artists get to work designing the packaging you see in the store. As for Torben, he is on to his next big design project. So what is he working on now?

"Right now, I'm working on next year's BIONICLE sets," he says. "But they are, of course, secret."

Working on super secret BIONICLE models ... sounds like a fun job, doesn't it?

Mini-Figure Madness!

The Piraka Stronghold set features 12 new mini-figures - six Toa Inika and six Piraka! All the figures have been redesigned since 2005, so that they now feature moving parts and masks that more closely match the action figures.

Fenrakk on the Loose!

Adding a cool vehicle to a playset can be a challenge. The LEGO designers solved this by creating a Fenrakk spawn spider-drawn chariot for the Toa - and introduced wheels into the BIONICLE universe!

Launch the Zamor Spheres!

One way to make a set like this tie into the other ones in the line is to use similar elements, especially waepons. Torben used a Toa Inika's zamor launcher for the stronghold's tower launcher - with the characters in mini-figure scale, the launcher goes from being a hand-held weapon to a massive zamor cannon!

External Links

• Behind the Bricks: Secrets of the Piraka Stronghold LEGO Magazine November-December 2006: page 1, page 2 (archived on www.biomediaproject.com)