Most people have created something out of Lego blocks at some point in their life, be it something small and simple like a Lego cottage, or large and complicated like Han Solo’s Millennium Falcon. At the very least, you have probably felt the wrath of one of your kid’s stray blocks, stepping on it as you walked barefoot through the house at midnight.
Regardless, Legos are typically thought of as toys or hobbies, but Adam Reed Tucker, a former architect whose business was decimated by the poor economy, is creating architectural mirabilia out of these colorful plastic blocks worthy of their own exhibit at one of the top museums in the country.
As The Chicago Tribune reports, Tucker has an estimated 9 million Lego bricks at his Chicago-area home that he uses to build his displays. His first creation was the product of a day sitting in Barnes & Noble thinking about what he wanted to do with his life after his firm closed. He wanted to work with his hands, and remembered he was good at making models as an architecture student.
His next stop was Toys R Us, where he purchased a Hogwarts Lego set and used the provided pieces to make a replica of Frank Lloyd Wright’s Fallingwater. These smaller projects grew into larger ones, such as an 8-foot-tall model of One World Trade Center (with one side left exposed to show how the building was made and why it collapsed), until, eventually, he was using tens of thousands of Lego blocks on one project alone.
Currently, Tucker has 13 pieces - and 310,000 blocks - on display at the Museum of Science and Industry as part of his “Brick by Brick” exhibit. Each piece in the exhibit shares the common theme of being an architectural wonder, such as a 60-foot-long replica of the Golden Gate Bridge created from an estimated 64,500 bricks, a Roman coliseum constructed of 22,500 bricks and shown in a cutaway to expose its manner of construction, and a Hoover Dam meant to mimic its appearance in old black and white photos.
Tucker has three more exhibits planned; one that focuses on the story of the industrial revolution, one focused on the work of Frank Lloyd Wright, and one that puts Walt Disney’s work on center stage.
Click here to view images from the “Brick by Brick” exhibit.
Related Stories
| May 10, 2011
Dinner is now served…atop the Lincoln Memorial?
Take a look at the temporary restaurant sitting atop Brussels’ historic Arc de Triomphe-Triomfboog. The Cube, by Electrolux, offers 18 diners a spectacular view of the Parc du Cinquantenair, and is one of two structures traveling across Europe, making stops at famous landmarks in Belgium, Italy, Switzerland, Sweden, and Russia. What do you think about one of these 60-tonne structures being placed on a U.S. memorial?
| May 6, 2011
Ellerbe Becket now operating as AECOM
*/ The architecture, interiors and engineering firm Ellerbe Becket, which joined AECOM in 2009, has fully transitioned to operating as AECOM as of May 2, 2011.
| May 2, 2011
URS acquires Apptis Holdings, a federal IT service provider
SAN FRANCISCO, CA and CHANTILLY, VA– April 28, 2011 – URS Corporation and Apptis Holdings, Inc., a leading provider of information technology and communications services to the federal government, announced that they have signed a definitive agreement under which URS will acquire Apptis.
| May 2, 2011
Perkins+Will merges with Vermeulen Hind Architects, offically launches Perkins+Will Canada
Ottawa and Hamilton-based Vermeulen Hind Architects, one of Canada’s leading healthcare architectural firms, has merged with Perkins+Will. Vermeulen Hind joins Toronto-based Shore Tilbe Perkins+Will and Vancouver-based Busby Perkins+Will to create Perkins+Will Canada. The combination marks the official launch of Perkins+Will Canada, a merge that will establish the firm as among the pre-eminent interdisciplinary design practices in Canada.
| Apr 26, 2011
Ed Mazria on how NYC can achieve carbon neutrality in buildings by 2030
The New York Chapter of the American Institute of Architects invited Mr. Mazria to present a keynote lecture to launch its 2030 training program. In advance of that lecture, Jacob Slevin, co-founder of DesignerPages.com and a contributor to The Huffington Post, interviewed Mazria about creating a sustainable vision for the future and how New York City's architects and designers can rise to the occasion.
| Apr 26, 2011
Video: Are China's ghost cities a bubble waiting to burst?
It's estimated that 10 new cities are being built in China every year, but many are virtually deserted. Retail space remains empty and hundreds of apartments are vacant, but the Chinese government is more concerned with maintaining economic growth—and building cities is one way of achieving that goal.
| Apr 25, 2011
Earn $300 million by NOT hiring Frank Gehry
An Iowa philanthropist and architecture aficionado—who wishes to remain anonymous—is offering a $300 million “reward” to any city anywhere in the world that’s brave enough to hire someone other than Frank Gehry to design its new art museum.
| Apr 20, 2011
Marketing firm Funtion: to host “Construct. Build. Evolve.”
Function:, an integrated marketing agency that specializes in reaching the architecture, building and design community, is hosting an interactive art event, “Construct. Build. Evolve.” in Atlanta’s Piedmont Park on Thursday April 21, 2011 at 11:00AM EDT. During the event attendees will be asked to answer the question, “how would you build the future?” to rouse dialogue and discover fresh ideas for the future of the built environment.
| Apr 20, 2011
Architecture Billings Index: new projects inquiry index up significantly from February
The American Institute of Architects (AIA) reported the March ABI score was 50.5, a negligible decrease from a reading of 50.6 the previous month. This score reflects a modest increase in demand for design services (any score above 50 indicates an increase in billings). The new projects inquiry index was 58.7, up significantly from a mark of 56.4 in February.
