Upcycling Aesthetic: Desert Aesthetic

The aesthetic that I am choosing for my upcycle project is the desert aesthetic. I think the desert aesthetic is defined by color, scenery, and minor to no vegetation. The color pattern I am going to shoot for is light brown and red which come from the sand and rock in the desert and light blue and maybe white which are from the sky that is present in many desert images.

For my project, I am probably going to make a flower pot or flower basket out of legos that will fit this aesthetic. I am choosing to use legos for multiple reasons. The first reason is that I have a decently large collection of spare legos and access to that collection. Throughout my childhood I was an avid lego kid and all of them are still at my parents house in Denver 30 minutes away. Since the legos are sitting there not being used, I think this is a perfect opportunity to upcycle them into a project. I also believe that I will have a sufficient amount of light brown, red, and blue legos to make a small sized flower pot. Additionally, the legos will add a separate geometrical aesthetic to the project that will make the flower pot more comfortable inside as a decorative piece. I think of the geometrical aesthetic as an aesthetic defined by rigid shapes, human-made, and non-naturalistic. Since legos are built to be constructed into geometric shapes and models, there are many directions I can go in building the flower pot.

The only factors that will determine the overall size and shape of the flower pot are the quantity of lego bricks I can source that are correct for the project, the level of complication I want to pursue with the lego bricks, and if it can be desk sized. I am anticipating making the flower pot a cube right now with one of the sides missing for actual vegetation to be planted in. However, if I have the material I do want to pursue a more complicated build by making many large extrusions to try and get more of a “circular” shape that a traditional flower pot would have. To complete a scene out of a desert aesthetic, I think the flower pow will start with the light brown and red legos towards the ground and turn to light blue at the top. This will attempt to simulate the desert-like ground fading to a clear blue horizon which is the imagery I think of in a desert setting. To finalize the desert aesthetic look, I am going to try and fill the flower pot with sand or dried out soil. Then if I can manage to source a cactus or any other dry-climate vegetation that can fit in the pot I will plant that in there to complete the decoration.

This will make it so that the flower pot isn’t just an upcycling project for class but a usable decoration that I can keep in my house. This might require plastic material to be put inside the pot to ensure the sand is where I want it to be and not in between the gaps in any of the legos.

Farnsworth, Andy. “Top 10 Things to Do in Moab.” Utah.Com, 8 Nov. 2023, www.utah.com/articles/post/top-10-things-to-do-in-moab/.

GeneralLogicalTomato. “Arizona Desert.” LEGO IDEAS – Build That Holiday into THAT Holiday!, 11 June 2020, ideas.lego.com/challenges/92cc4e64-35e1-48aa-a991-2c4ef1aaea12/application/8633cd52-46d9-43d1-a760-5a9aa355114c.