If you've ever felt that unrivalled pang of pride when you finally finish piecing together that cool LEGO Star Wars set you picked up, we salute you. Well done, you LEGO-loving hero.Your little win has just been crapped all over though and upstaged in epic fashion, as the world's largest LEGO sculpture has been unveiled.Made by Land Rover to coincide with the launch of the new Land Rover Discovery, the record-breaking LEGO sculpture is a replica of the iconic Tower Bridge and, as you might expect, it's chuffin' massive.Crafted from a staggering 5,805,846 individual LEGO bricks – that's enough to stretch from London to Paris if laid end-to-end – the supersized construction beat the previous record by a whopping 470,646 pieces.Taking more than five months to build, the brick-based sculpture was erected in the grounds of Warwickshire's Packington Hall and was joined by LEGO horse jumps, trees, deer and even and 186,500-brick racing boat because, well, just because.Although you're not going to be able to build something quite so grand, you can get your LEGO fix ever day in December.The new LEGO Star Wars advent calendar was recently unveiled as the awesome festive accessory you're all going to want.
The tallest Lego structure in the world of, fittingly, the world’s tallest skyscraper has just been unveiled at Legoland Dubai’s Miniland, which is due to open to the public on 31 October. Standing at 17-metres-tall, the Burj Khalifa replica tower took over 5000 hours to build and consists of 439,000 Lego bricks. It weighs 1000 kilograms, and was unveiled by Emirati boy Mohammed bin Ahmed Jaber Al Harbi – it comes complete with a model figure of him entering the Dubai tower. Here is some exciting news! We’ve unveiled the Burj Khalifa, the world’s tallest LEGO® model of a building in MINILAND at @LEGOLANDDubai! — LEGOLAND Dubai (@LEGOLANDDubai) October 17, 2016 With that is mind, we decided to take a look at other daring Lego constructions that have captured famous landmarks around the world. The British sovereign, Queen Elizabeth II, admired this Lego replica of her main residence, Buckingham Palace, in London, when she visited Legoland in Windsor, England.
The model palace comes complete with a Lego version of her gold state coach and guardsmen. A model of the Reichstag building in Germany made of Lego bricks formed part of the Miniland exhibit at Berlin’s Legoland Discovery Centre. The building opened in 1894 to house the Imperial Diet of the German Empire, and closed in 1933 when it was severely damaged by fire. After its reconstruction was completed in 1999, it became the meeting place of the German parliament. This 26-foot-tall replica of One World Trade Center was unveiled in June as the tallest Lego building in the US, and was built with over 250,000 bricks. It is situated in Legoland at Carlsbad, California, and shows the main building of the rebuilt World Trade Center complex in Lower Manhattan. This Lego model of the Château de Versailles in France was displayed during the world’s biggest Lego brick show at Galeria Kazimierz, Krakow, in Poland. First built by Louis XIII in 1623 as a hunting lodge of brick and stone, the Versailles edifice was enlarged into a royal palace by Louis XIV.
A replica of the Taj Mahal in Agra, India, was displayed at an exhibition in Tokyo, Japan, to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the World Heritage Convention. An immense mausoleum of white marble, it was built between 1631 and 1648 by order of the Mughal emperor Shah Jahan in memory of his favourite wife. When Legoland opened in California, visitors admired the model of the US Capitol building, the seat of power, with other Washington DC buildings in the background. The model has control buttons that activate instruments in the marching band in front of the building. Visitors to Legoland Discovery Center in Toronto, Canada, were enchanted by this enormous model of downtown Toronto built with Lego blocks, and capturing many familiar buildings. A miniature of Kuala Lumpur’s Merdeka Square, made of Lego bricks, was unveiled at Legoland Malaysia. The Square is the Malaysian capital city’s most famous landmark, and is frequently used as the location for political rallies as well as other events.
A replica of the Rotes Rathaus, also known as Red City Hall, was unveiled at Legoland in Germany. This is the famous town hall of Berlin, and is located in the Mitte district on Rathausstraße near Alexanderplatz. It is the home of the governing mayor and the government of the federal state of Berlin.The new Sydney Opera House model, for LEGO's Creator line. Image: LEGOThe building’s iconic sails were the toughest detail to capture. Image: LEGOLead designer Jamie Berard said it was the most challenging model of his 6-year LEGO career. Image: LEGOThe staircase is especially gorgeous. The Sydney Opera House, Jørn Utzon’s iconic arts center, is a marvel of modern architecture. Now it’s a marvel of modern Lego, too. With a new set, available this September for $320, Australia’s best-known building joins the Eiffel Tower and the Taj Mahal as part of Lego’s high-end Creator line. It’s not the first time Lego’s tackled the landmark–a different model was made available last year through the Architecture series, but it only used a paltry 270 pieces.
It kind of looked like the real thing, if you squinted. With 2,989 bricks, the new model is astoundingly detailed, capturing subtle touches like the gray lines running through the venue’s main staircase. And where the older set was pegged for ages 12 and up–literally child’s play–this one comes with an “expert” designation, recommended only for builders at least 16 years of age. If you’re legally allowed to operate a motor vehicle, but only with a parent riding shotgun, this thing might make your head explode. Building a masterpiece replica from scratch is a different level of crazy. Of course, putting the model together with the instructions is one thing. Building a masterpiece replica from scratch is an entirely different level of crazy. That task falls to Lego’s designers, an indefatigable group of tinkerers, many of whom trained as architects themselves. Even with a handful of Masters degrees and access to every Lego brick in existence, though, the Opera House presented a unique challenge.
Jamie Berard, Design Manager Specialist for the Creator line, says it was the hardest model he’s worked on in his 6-year career designing products for the company. “Lego bricks are quite good at making buildings with straight walls and sloping roofs,” he explains. “Creating a piece of architecture with so many compound curves and angled walls really pushed the boundaries of what our bricks are capable of.” Unsurprisingly, the building’s signature sails were the toughest nut to crack. First the team tried standard plates and bricks, but the result was too blocky. Then they tried sloping bricks, but the gaps in between the individual pieces took away from the fluid form. Ultimately, the designers settled on a pair of sloping bow pieces to capture the expressiveness of the original architecture. Incredibly, in total, it took nearly half as long to figure out how to render the feature in tiny plastic blocks as it did to complete the real thing. “Considering it took engineers eight years to figure out how to make the real Opera House sails, I feel quite proud that it only took us three,” Berard says.