Many architects now shaping the world's cities acknowledge a debt to Lego, the Danish toy company behind the plastic bricks that have littered bedroom floors for more than 50 years.

But in recent years, practicing architects and the multi-billion-dollar company have engaged in unprecedented collaborations to learn how the tiny blocks can spark new design thinking, on a miniature and grand scale.

Architects are informing a new type of Lego, and Lego -- and its enormous fan community -- is pushing the boundaries to create models that are imaginative but architecturally intuitive enough to encourage a new generation to learn how buildings are designed and constructed.

Lego launched its dedicated architecture range in 2008, which has grown to include landmarks like New York's Guggenheim Museum and Singapore's Marina Bay Sands, as well as a newer Skylines range, capturing cityscapes in Sydney, Paris and London... [+]