Daily Inspiration: Meet Rocco Buttliere

Today we’d like to introduce you to Rocco Buttliere.

Rocco, we appreciate you taking the time to share your story with us today. Where does your story begin?
One of the earliest ways that I can recall in which I expressed my creativity was with LEGO bricks as a child. Growing up, there was plenty of LEGO leftover from sets my older brothers had played with, and even more once I started to collect sets at the age of six. More than that, though, I had also been expressing my creative tendencies in the classroom setting.

My artistic interests eventually leaned into architectural expression, and that’s when I began using LEGO to create original works. Since I was a freshman in high school in 2009, I have designed and built numerous 1:650 scale landmark and landscape pieces: All the while, I have received a degree in architecture from Illinois Institute of Technology in 2017, have been regularly touring the US with the BrickUniverse LEGO fan exhibitions since 2015, and have steadily built a profitable small business off of commissions and exhibitions in lieu of a traditional architecture career.

Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
As I’m sure you can imagine, continuing to build with LEGO throughout high school was something I was not quite ready to advertise. Starting out, I explored rather iconic subject matter such as Willis Tower, Empire State Building, and Burj Khalifa.

As time went on, however, I began to explore some more obscure, though no less significant works of noteworthy architecture due, in part, to my academic studies at IIT, but also simply to challenge myself to tackle the subject matter with far fewer preconceived notions as to their precedence. These works included subjects like the Inland Steel Building in Chicago, Fountain Place in Dallas, and Oriental Pearl Tower in Shanghai.

In recent years, my work has evolved further as I’ve moved more in the direction of architectural expression by way of building broad landscapes; often consisting of what may have amounted to ten or more individual landmarks I might have previously expressed individually. Another layer to this has been the effort to properly contextualize – both historically and geographically – the architectural and historical subject matter as accurately as possible and with as few omissions as possible.

My recent works to these ends include SPQR – Imperial Rome, Forbidden City, Vatican City, and First Century Jerusalem. As for the business side of things, let’s just say that has been an entirely different, yet wholly integral aspect of getting to this point!

Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
As an artist, first and foremost, I always wrestle with the distinction of calling myself a “LEGO Artist” as I know for a fact that if I hadn’t been using LEGO for my work since 2009, I certainly would be expressing my creativity via some other modeling medium. You can just ask any of my university professors for plenty of anecdotes about my insistence on always building comprehensive and detailed basswood or cardboard models alongside the other requisite deliverables for studio projects!

On the other hand, I have never been one to overlook the forest for the trees. So, in calling myself a LEGO Artist, that establishes a meaningful connection to nearly anyone who asks exactly what it is that I do. LEGO bricks are so ubiquitous to many childhoods and are such an increasingly prevalent pastime for adults, that I consider it a privileged and humbling notion that I should be counted among such company.

Specialization, however, is where I divert quite considerably from the typical expectations of an off-the-shelf LEGO set. Put simply, my body of work is more than a decade in the making and is consistently scaled such that there is an immediate cohesion between earlier and more recent works. The scale itself (roughly 1:650) is considerably smaller than typical LEGO builds which can be populated by the iconic “Minifigures.” But without the need to worry about telling narratives at an individual level, my work – and the rigorous dedication to historical context and meticulous craftsmanship rooted in a profound respect for historicity therein – seeks to evoke broader truths and fundamental societal similarities.

Despite the fact that my body of work ranges from everything from Imperial Rome to Downtown Chicago, and Forbidden City to the Golden Gate Bridge, these seemingly disparate and anachronistic representations defy conventional curation, yet increasingly succeed at conveying certain platonic consistencies across time and across cultures.

These resulting throughlines are due – in no uncertain terms – mostly to the LEGO parts themselves; their level of instant recognizability challenging the more obscure parts usage; the subtle greys and tans carefully juxtaposed to the brightly colored, iconic LEGO hues; and the intermingling of parts developed specifically for a certain LEGO theme, with those used consistently across the breadth of the vast back catalog.

We love surprises, fun facts, and unexpected stories. Is there something you can share that might surprise us?
I suppose that any personal details about myself would be fair answers to this question. I have found that compartmentalizing my personal life away from all but those with whom I actually have personal relationships is the best way for me to continue producing the quality of work for which I have come to be known.

I’m certainly always learning in that arena of life, but I also have numerous other areas of interest which I continue to explore beyond the public eye. The most important of these is taking time out of each day to make healthy, real food and to exercise six days a week.

With so much of my work so wholly dependent on forces beyond my control, it’s been an incredibly beneficial baseline having areas in which I continue to learn and improve over time; whether it’s adding nuance to my family’s homemade pizza recipe and perfecting broiled salmon with asparagus; or pushing myself to gradually run farther and reach weight goals on any number of barbell exercises!

Contact Info:

• Email: [email protected]
• Website: RoccoButtliere.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/rjbuttliere/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/rjbuttliere
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCkf-yy4q2fH1PAc_cuBH7Fg
• Other: https://flic.kr/ps/YQ57w