An earlier bivouac post spoke to the merit of building items with Lego Technic. Depending on the kit, one can gain an real appreciation for certain mechanical relationships within drive trains, limited slip differrentials, pistons and cam shafts and the like. It turns out that a recent encounter with Lego's Architecture series had a similar effect, leading to renewed appreciation for Mies van der Rohe's iconic Farnsworth House.
While not as resilient to the 2008 flooding event as a Lego version would have been, hopefully the master architect's minimalist selection of travertine marble, glass and steel will mean that any further restoration can mainly focus on the more precious interior such as silk curtains and an interior core element clad in primivera paneling.
Farnsworth House stands as a testiment to simplicity and minimalism. As I struggled during my "construction project" to keep each individual Lego tile as perpendicular to one another as I could, the exercise proved to be poignient reminder that sometimes keeping things pure and simple is really hard.