To many people Arvo together with LEGO means pure perfection… others dream to reach their genius and technique…

I was lucky enough to meet them in person during the first HispaBrick meeting wich took place in early December 2007 in Barcelona

My first question was: what does ARVO mean?
Surprisingly, ARVO is their homage to Estonian composer Arvo Part.

Let's talk a bit about yourselves first: who are you? What do you do, where do you come fro m?

“Arvo” is Ramon and Amador, two brothers who grew up playing with LEGO. Contrary to what many think, we aren’t twins, we’re actually 5 years apart but that was never a reason for us not to play together.
Despite being born in Albacete, Spain, we lived in many cities and met many people. This is the key to our relationship, all these experiences united! We presently live in Albacete and work in engineering companies.
 

How did you first made contact with LEGO? Do you remember your first LEGO set?

It was Christmas 1980, when our parents gave us a 733 set, we were 7 and 2 years old respectively and we doubt it was legal to give LEGO to such small children! :D
The 733 set  (as well as 722 and 744) were that time’s Creator line, the most versatile.

What is your favourite LEGO theme and what do you enjoy building the most?

Our heart is divided between Technic and Creator, their actually the base to all our creations. We try to apply the best virtues of both lines, the consistency of Technic and the aesthetics of Creator.
There are other interesting lines like Exo-Force, which has an incredible potential and is a very interesting part source, something we praise very much. The diversity of colours and shapes is the key to the AFOL movement we witness.

Did you go through a dark age?

Yes, for the usual reasons we believe university! Besides it coincided with the time when certain lines began to include some rather “indigestible” news… we mean the liftarm.
After university we understood that the only way to have fun building again was to get to know those parts and use them as best we could. Today they are absolutely indispensable in any of our creations as they allow us to build certain structures with a third of the volume required by the classic parts.

What attracts you most about LEGO so that you chose it as your hobby?

When we were kids we were attracted by the beauty of some sets and by the possibility of building other things. Now that we are “less of a child” we are fully aware of the enormous potential as a mean of expression and creation.
As the years went by and the range of colours and shapes grew it has become possible to reach degrees of sophistication unimaginable before. Together with the Internet phenomenon and the learning process is continuous.
In any case, LEGO has always been and always will be the perfect excuse to keep on playing together.

How did you come across the 0937 Community?

The creations and the geographical proximity have always made us keep an eye out for the Community. It was during the first HispaBrick that we had the pleasure to meet some of you and see some of the creations we knew of photos and interviews. The most important thing was to talk about MOCs, techniques, experiences…

Where do you go for inspiration for your MOCs? And who do you have under the “Bookmarks” tab?

Inspiration comes on its own, a music, an image, especially a memory! A creation must have an history behind it, it must have a meaning, but not just this. Sometimes we think of awful things but as there are two of us the filter is double!
Our bookmarks tab is big and ranges fom LEGO related sites like Brickshelf, Bricklink, peeron, etc, to links related to music or history.

Could you tell us which is your favourite creation of all time?

Kaneda’s bike! Not just because of its visual value but also because it means a big step in our understanding of LEGO. The smoothness, the ample range of shapes, there are no limits!

Which is your favourite LEGO Brick?

Any part that makes edges smoother and the “bracket 1x2 – 2x2”, one part that contains the whole of LEGO geometry.