Small Rhombicosidodecahedron

Name of Model: ZPD Ball

Created by: 1brick

Found at: http://www.flickr.com/photos/1brick/sets/72157623223643559/

Details: LEGO geometry is deceptive. So many people assume that the LEGO world is boxy, a sort of 3-D pixelated reality. Of course, we can easily break out of that by using specialized elements or hinges, and LEGO proportions aren't actually square (a standard 1x1 brick actually has a 5:6 ratio of width to height) - but this post isn't about the geometry of LEGO parts. Sometimes you just want to use LEGO to show off other geometric shapes (you never know when an unusual shape will come in handy, but there's no need to have a model in mind when experimenting). I've previously blogged about some simple LEGO polyhedra before, but never anything as complex as today's model - today's pick is one that you've probably never heard about (and are unlikely to hear about in the future) in a school geometry class. This is a perfect small rhombicosidodecahedron. The technique is similar to the one used for simpler shapes - which means that this polyhedron is actually easier to build than to pronounce. Lest you think this is easy, check out the full Wolfram Alpha list of 62-faced polyhedra. Leave it to irregular polyhedra to make it difficult to blog about LEGO.