Review: LEGO Architecture Paris City of Love is an Art set in all but name

The cultural capital of Europe is recreated in brick form once more, now with a fresh twist thanks to LEGO Architecture 21064 Paris – City of Love.

The LEGO Architecture theme is no stranger to brick-built cities, historically focusing on microscale versions of familiar buildings from around the world such as 21028 New York City, 21034 London and even 21044 Paris. However, 21064 Paris – City of Love seems to be taking a leaf out of LEGO Art’s playbook by delivering an altogether different approach to the French capital, especially when compared with what’s come before.

Instead of attempting to recreate well-known buildings in an accurate way, 21064 Paris – City of Love leans more into capturing the overall emotion and aesthetic of the location that has fascinated visitors for centuries. It does so by delivering a selection of famous Parisian landmarks in brick-built form, all contained within a simple white frame and presented as a piece of home décor.

That effect works remarkably well and the LEGO Architecture model has been designed in such a way that the depth of 21064 Paris – City of Love’s frame allows for the completed set to be displayed either freestanding or placed on a wall, thanks to its included hanger element.

Priced at £69.99 / $79.99 / €79.99, the set certainly represents a good initial entry point for those who’ve yet to dabble in the LEGO theme, and with 958 pieces included in the box, it’s not one that will prove too complicated for newcomers to get to grips with.

The LEGO Architecture model also tries something new when compared to previous Skylines releases, giving 21064 Paris – City of Love a sense of depth that results in the build being more akin to a piece of 3D postcard art.

That scale is achieved through an interesting use of smaller elements the further back you go into the model, with different layers creating an overall illusion of depth, despite 21064 Paris – City of Love only having a fairly shallow footprint. Those layers are created in separate stages, with the LEGO Architecture set coming together as a fascinating jigsaw puzzle that represents the French capital using a unique forced perspective approach.

Of note in 21064 Paris – City of Love are recreations of the Eiffel Tower, Notre-Dame de Paris Cathedral, the Arc de Triomphe and the Louvre, all sat against a deep blue night sky dotted with a handful of 1×1 printed star pieces.

The backdrop helps the LEGO Architecture model’s monochromatic skyline to really pop, delivering a much more artistic take on the city than we’ve seen before. That look is mostly achieved thanks to a creative approach that utilises new pieces and repurposes existing parts in interesting ways.

For instance, tan fence elements are used to represent the Eiffel Tower’s iron latticework, dark tan ingot pieces (the first time in that colour) capture some of the sculptural frieze details of the Arc de Triomphe, the back of 1×1 bricks are perfect microscale windows, pointed Gothic arches are achieved with the bottom of tooth plates, Notre-Dame de Paris Cathedral’s rose window is represented by a spoked hubcap element, and the Eiffel Tower’s spire is made from a minifigure’s fencing sword.

However, while those building techniques and clever parts usage are certainly appreciated, fans of more traditional LEGO Architecture builds may feel a little left out when it comes to 21064 Paris – City of Love. While the set is impressive for what it is, it’s definitely much less of a challenge to assemble when compared to the likes of 21061 Notre-Dame de Paris or 21063 Neuschwanstein Castle and instead seems to skew closer to something you’d expect from LEGO Art in terms of concept, target audience and complexity.

If you are in the mood for something with a little more aesthetic appeal, though, you’ll find that 21064 is aided in its ambitions by a printed ‘City of Love’ tile to place at the front of the completed model, with not a single sticker to be applied on the LEGO Architecture set whatsoever. And the finished build proves to be an eye-catching display piece regardless – one that’s actually a little larger in person than you might expect.

It’ll be interesting to see whether or not the LEGO Architecture theme continues down this intriguing new creative path with more 3D cityscape offerings in the future, but for now lovers of the most romantic, artistic and cultural location in the world can sit back and enjoy the magic of Paris with their very own brick-built piece of art.

Our honest opinion: 21064 Paris – City of Love delivers a fresh take on a familiar location, thanks to some clever use of forced perspective and new elements usage, but traditional Architecture fans may be better off elsewhere.

This set was provided for review by the LEGO Group.

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How long does it take to build 21064 Paris – City of Love?

21064 Paris – City of Love isn’t the most time-consuming LEGO Architecture set to make and should really only take you around two hours to assemble.

How many pieces are in 21064 Paris – City of Love?

There are 958 pieces contained within 21064 Paris – City of Love’s box, enough elements to construct the model’s many landmarks and white frame.

How accurate is 21064 Paris – City of Love?

21064 Paris – City of Love jettisons the standard LEGO Architecture approach to accuracy and instead delivers a more romanticised take on its subject matter, one that might not offer enough complexity for some fans of the theme.

How much does 21064 Paris – City of Love cost?

21064 Paris – City of Love is priced at £69.99 / $79.99 / €79.99 and is due to launch on January 1, 2026, with pre-orders for the LEGO Architecture set now open.