Following the advent of graphene, many other one-atom or one-molecule thick crystals have been isolated and investigated. These two-dimensional crystals have become one of the hottest topics in materials science and condensed matter physics. Furthermore, isolated atomic planes can now be reassembled back into three-dimensional structures and crystals made layer by layer in a designer sequence. I will provide a brief, lowbrow introduction to graphene, trying to explain why this material has attracted so much attention, and then overview our progress in making new assemblies from available atomic planes in order to illustrate how rich in phenomena and application this research field is.
