Cinder(ella) Blocks

Thankfully, the architects seem to have noticed this too, and so every single Disney park has one big, recognisable landmark in the middle – a tree for Animal Kingdom, a big golf ball for Epcot, and for the Magic Kingdom, the most recognisable: Cinderella’s Castle, a towering white-and-blue fortress that technically belongs to Cindy’s husband, being royalty and all. In my fantasies, Disney World is empty, which makes Cinderella’s Castle the exact opposite, surrounded by tiny and large humans alike, taking selfies and just generally standing in the way and getting between me and Space Mountain. Move it!

In_Mine Architects’ Fantasy Castle might be based on Cindy’s Dream House, but the fact that it has exactly zero people nearby makes it far superior, in my opinion. Even better, it has such high towers that the only people I’ll be forced to hang out with are clouds! Wait. Am I turning into the kind of grumpy adult that hates fun? Hooray! :D

Fantasy Castle was built by the team as part of an order from a client who really wanted a castle inspired by Disney, and so the builders - having never been to Disney, and living thousands of miles away - set out on the 3-week, 100-hour project with only their experience and imagination to guide them.

The castle, in resplendent, shining white, is made from about 80% quartz, with the rest made of stone brick and cobblestone. The interiors have small courtyards filled with greenery and flowers, and every window is stained glass in blue and white to match the exterior. The arches and pillars make the castle look like a cathedral on the inside – it must have cost Cinderella a lot to heat this place, good thing she married a Prince – and it’s all authentically lit with burning torches, which means it’s probably not a good idea to wander around the halls with big poofy flammable gowns on.

Crazyarchitektor, the person who built the castle – his teammate Leonex took care of the landscape – has been building in Minecraft for eight years. “I cannot imagine my life without Minecraft,” he says, and that’s not only because it’s his hobby – it’s also his job! “This is my main source of income,” he admits. “I do construction in Minecraft professionally, so I try to create high-quality buildings so that people will turn to me in the future!”

When he’s not getting paid to play video games (what a cool job), Crazyarchitektor spends time… playing more Minecraft! “My favourite build of mine is a whole project,” he says. That project is called Project Eclipsis. It’s an entire medieval world that he works on in-between orders, so it’s more like a hobby, even though it’s using the same software that he uses in his job. There’s a castle, a farm, a Hogwarts-style great hall, a coliseum, all inside a medieval city surrounded by stone walls and tall, snowy mountains. It looks like something straight out of Game of Thrones, only blockier.