LEGO explains why 10307 Eiffel Tower is dark grey, not brown

The real-life Eiffel Tower is painted three distinct shades of brown – so why is the latest LEGO Icons model built in dark grey? The designer behind 10307 Eiffel Tower says there are a few good reasons.

Whether you’ve just looked at images of France’s most memorable landmark online or have been fortunate enough to visit it in real life, you’ll have come away with the same conclusion: this thing is brown. In fact, according to the icon’s official website, it’s specifically painted with three shades of what’s known as ‘Eiffel Tower brown’, and has remained that way since 1968.

Beyond a brief excursion into yellow in 1899, the tower has actually always been painted some shade of brown, receiving a new coat every seven years (following a schedule dictated by Gustave Eiffel himself). Today, it’s painted in three different shades of brown, progressing from dark to light the further up you go – in what’s intended to be a ‘visual impression of uniformity’.

• 

• 

The Eiffel Tower will soon be repainted gold to celebrate the 2024 Summer Olympics, which are being held in Paris. But the common thread throughout all these colour schemes is that not one of them is grey – so why is 10307 Eiffel Tower built entirely from dark grey elements? According to designer Rok Žgalin Kobe, a ‘variety of individual aspects’ contributed to the decision to lead with dark grey, reports Zusammengebaut.

Among those were: in reference to 2007’s 10181 Eiffel Tower, allowing direct comparisons between the two sets; the availability of pieces in dark grey (recolouring other elements to brown, for example, would have taken budget away from other LEGO Icons sets); and dark grey’s ability to stand out against a light background, while also remaining neutral, and not distracting from the tower’s ‘incredible size’.

As is, 10307 Eiffel Tower perhaps most closely resembles the real landmark while it’s being repainted: as part of the process, which takes up to 18 months, workers rigorously scrape all the old paint off before applying the new layer. The LEGO model could therefore be said to depict that brief period in which all the old paint has been removed. Talk about specific.

10307 Eiffel Tower launches on November 25 for £554.99 / $629.99 / €629.99. Check out our review here.

Support the work that Brick Fanatics does by purchasing your LEGO using our affiliate links.