Review + MOC: 10359 Fountain Garden from LEGO® Icons

August 2023 saw the introduction of LEGO® Icons 10315 Tranquil Garden, a Japanese-inspired model which is a little bit larger than minifigure scale and features modular components to vary the garden layout. At the time, we assumed that this was a one-off.

However, set 10359 Fountain Garden, led by senior designer Henrik Saaby, will be released on 1 January 2025 under the new LEGO Icons sub-theme "Gardens of the World". Let's take a look at the parts and construction of the Fountain Garden to see what delights await.

Products in this article were gifted by The LEGO Group; the author's opinions are their own.
This article contains affiliate links to LEGO.com; we may get a small commission if you purchase.

10359 Fountain Garden

• Release date: 1 January 2025
• Pieces: 1302

Price: 

• US$ 99.99 on LEGO.com US
• CA$ 129.99 on LEGO.com Canada
• GB£ 89.99 on LEGO.com UK
• AU$ 179.99 on LEGO.com Australia
• NZ$ 199.99 on LEGO.com New Zealand
• DE€ 99,99 on LEGO.com Deutschland
• NL€ 99,99 on LEGO.com Nederland
• FR€ 99,99 on LEGO.com France
• PLN 439.99 on LEGO.com Polska
• NOK 1399,90 on LEGO.com Norge
• DKK 899.95 on LEGO.com Danmark

Other countries click here

 

Recolours

This set does not contain any new moulds but there are a decent number of unique recoloured elements, some in large quantities. 

• 2x Headwear Accessory Antlers in White (6536265 | 1613)
• 64x Weapon Bladed Claw Spread in Dark Green (6532422 | 10187)
• 6x Tile 1x1 Heart in Green (6501815 | 39739)
• 2x Rock 1x1 Crystal 5 Point in Dark Green (6532423 | 30385, 28623, 29377)
• 12x Brick Special 1x1 with Headlight and Slot in Dark Green (6532421 | 4070a)
• 4x Tile 1x2 with Stud Notch Right in Tan (6491421 | 5092)
• 4x Tile 1x2 with Stud Notch Left in Tan (6536100 | 5091)
• 16x Brick Special 1x1 Studs on 4 Sides in Dark Green (6532420 | 4733)

I was a little bit surprised to note that the two dark green SNOT bricks, the "Erling" headlight and "Dalek" with studs on all sides, did not already exist, as these are common in other colours.

Printed parts

These delightful printed elements are exclusive to this set, and come in pleasing quantities. They really help to set the mood of the build!

• 4x Tile 1x2 with Groove with print in Tan (6523315 | 3069bpr)
• 20x Tile 2x2 with Groove with print in Tan (6523314 | 3068bpr)
• 4x Tile 4x4 Curved, Macaroni with print in White (6523316 | 27507pr)
• 8x Tile 2x2 Corner with print in Tan (6523317 | 14719pr) - only the second print for this corner tile mould
• 1x Insect, Butterfly with Spanish moon moth print in Lime (6523318 | 80674pr) - which is also a recolour of this element

The tile decorations, created by designer Kenza Faten Statoua are inspired by zellij, an Arabic style that has influenced Northern African and Southern European design through the centuries, according to the building instructions. The exact location of the Fountain Garden is not specified further as design inspiration has come from many regions, including the Alhambra in Grenada, Spain. 

The Spanish moon moth (Graellsia isabellae) is native to cooler, mountainous regions of Spain where they have remained relatively unchanged since the Ice Age.

Rare and returning

There is also a modest selection of rare and returning elements included in the set: 

• 2x Wedge Plate 3x3 Cut Corner in Green (6529282 | 2450), last seen in a set in 2015

These have been in one other set to date:

• 1x Plate Special 1x1 with Hole Through Stud, 3 Bars and 3 Bar Holes in Reddish Brown (6492629 | 1941) - also in 71814 Tournament Temple City
• 1x Cone 2x2x2 with Completely Open Stud in Reddish Brown (6488490 | 3942c, 63417, 14918) - just in 40719 Traditional Chess Set

The rest have been in two other sets to date, and the first two moulds only introduced in November 2024:

• 6x Plant, Flower, Tulip in Light Purple/Bright Pink (6519672 | 5903) - also in 21353 The Botanical Garden and 5009005 Entrance Gate
• 5x Plant, Flower, Peony Rose with 2 Layers in Bright Orange/Orange (6550815 | 5904) - also in The Botanical Garden and Entrance Gate
• 2x Tile 45° Cut 2x2 (Triangle) in Sand Yellow/Dark Tan (6480380 | 35787) - appears in 31213 Mona Lisa (see our LEGO Mona Lisa review by Jonas) and 76437 The Burrow – Collectors' Edition

The build

The first four bags lay down the underlying structure of the garden, providing the four main sunken areas where the biggest components will fit, as well as another four 2x2x2 holes for detailing components at the height of the main pathways. 

This part of the build was a little bit repetitive, but once everything started taking shape, it was quite satisfying, particularly the addition of the beautiful printed tiles seen on the pathways and around the raised ponds.

Bags 5 and 6 construct left- and right-hand mirrored pathway modules flanked by clipped hedges, and provide another two 2x2x2 positions for the smaller moveable modules. There is a lot of plate work buried under the paths and grass, to get the paving slabs to sit one plate lower than the grassed areas.

Bags 7 and 8 contain the parts to build the left- and right-handed modules with colonnades, featuring two different colourful vines growing up the pillars, and topped off by attractive terracotta roofing. A double-page spread at the start of the building instructions introduces "The life in your garden", which tells us that the plants are red hibiscus flowers and pink bougainvillea. 

I was a little bit surprised to see that the positioning of the raised curved ridge tiles is different for each  roof (along the longer sides). Those of you who are bothered by such asymmetry can easily rebuild one side to of the roof ridges to match the other. Personally I think the arrangement on the left module above is the most pleasing.

Bag 9 deals with the little fountain alcove, again topped off with terracotta tiles, as well as the stone bench built upside-down and the two smallest modules, which have a 2x2 jumper on top, where an Iberian water frog and a little Yellowhammer can sit.

The rear of the fountain also has plenty of details including white petunias with heart-shaped leaves and two wall-mounted pots filled with red garden geraniums.

Bag 10 constructs the central fountain with four gorgeous quarter-round tiles representing a colourful mosaic inlay around its edges. There is also a display of French marigolds growing from a pedestal planter, on which the little Spanish moon moth has landed.

These two modules perhaps help to explain why the set is rated as an 18+ build experience. The marigold blooms are attached to the main leaves at the base of the planter by means of bright green sausages, which were very frustrating to connect as they kept falling off and were not very robust in consequence.

The main flowing elements of the fountain are also a little tricky to place – you have to balance six of the Wave/Power Blast Rounded Energy with Bar Handle pieces (27393, 32643, 78262) in the upturned 3x3 dish before they are held in place by a 2x2 dish on top. 

Once that has been added, the energy elements are still effectively floating, but trapped so they won't fall out. Since none of the elements are stressed in any way by this method, it's "legal" in The LEGO Group's build guidelines, but not something we see too often.

The final bag, no. 11, produces two tall cypress trees and a grapevine. The grapevine was fine, but inserting 64 spiky claw pieces into 16 bricks with studs on all sides was quite painful on the fingers, as the only place to grab the bricks during the process was at the bottom - which  meant clutching 4 right-angled corners. I was glad when this phase of building was done!

Now all of the components are complete, we can arrange them as seen in the image at the start of this article. That seems to be the favoured position for each module, if we go by the box art. But of course, we can also do our own thing and make the most of the modularity of the set.

I also enjoyed this vertical arrangement of the modules, which gives a more intimate feel to the garden than the wider version.

MOCs inspired by the Fountain Garden

This modular approach to the garden plants and ornaments inspired me to build some of my own to provide even more options. I knew I had a white horse in my parts collection, and thought this would make an imposing statue if posed in a rearing position. I then made a little orange tree for the Yellowhammer to sit in, and a few other sculptural and fountain pieces to add to my garden.

I also found a use for one of my very old Plant, Tree Granulated Pine (GTPine) which was in sets from 1969 to 1972, ironically including one called 350 Spanish Villa. This unfortunate specimen was acquired in a bulk lot and had the base broken off and missing. However, the trunk fits inside a 1x1 round brick from the wider anti-stud end, so I built a little block to allow it to sit in that orientation. 

I felt the rearing horse used as an impressive marble sculpture needed to be situated in the central diamond. I also replaced the hedges with some clipped box hedge balls to allow us to see a little bit more from a low angle.

On reflection, I thought this arrangement with the horse rather dominated the garden, so I put the original fountain back in pride of place at the heart of the crossroads, and rearranged things again. 

Conclusion

I did enjoy building this set, and the additional MOCs it inspired. It has now made me want to build 10315 Tranquil Garden which I bought last year but has so far remained unopened. As it shares this modular system for garden elements, it will be fun to see what else I can conjure up with that. 

With a price per part value of 6.9p/7.7c, I feel this set offers reasonable value for money. There seems to be a little bit less bulk in terms of finished modules than the Tranquil Garden, so it is good to see that it has a slightly lower price point. Some elements of the build experience were a little bit tedious (cypress trees in particular) but overall it was enjoyable and there is plenty of potential for moving around the modules which come with the set, building some more of your own, or using those lovely printed tiles in future MOC projects.

READ MORE: Review: 10350 Tudor Corner from LEGO® Icons Modular Buildings Collection

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