Little Legos for Large Buildings

Tall, taller, even taller

One of the featured exhibits at the National Building Museum is Legos Architecture: Towering Ambition which displays about a dozen of the world's most recognizable structures made entirely out of Legos. Included are the Empire State Building, The White House, and Frank Lloyd Wright's masterful Fallingwater, as well as more contemporary buildings from around the world.

Dominating the exhibit is Burj Khalifa, a Dubi architectural marvel which at 162 stories and 2,684 feet, is the largest edifice in the world.  The replica, which stands 17' 6" high and contains 450,300 legos, took 280 hours to design and 340 hours to build.

Obviously designed to demonstrate the creativity of Legos, the exhibit also promotes the idea of play as a forerunner to great building accomplishments. As Witold Rybczynski says in one of the messages displayed around the room: "We have all spent hours sprawled on the floor playing with toy blocks and built little houses with Lego bricks or some other construction toy.We have all been little architects." So just think: the next time you see your son or granddaughter making a mess with blocks on the living room floor don't get upset; you make be witnessing the birth of the next Frank Lloyd Wright.

Fallingwater Lego-style

Travelers' Tip:
If you visit, be prepared to stay a while. The exhibit includes a large area of Legos where budding builders can try out their skills.  Overheard from one grandmother: "Look at that. All he wants to do is play with those Legos.  We could have done that at home." And while that's true, you couldn't do it adjacent to all those fascinating structures for inspiration. You might also want to make sure your credit card is well stocked - all the structures are available in Legos sets for special purchase.  However, they are pricey, ranging from $25 for The Empire State Building to $100 for Fallingwater.  The exhibit is on display until Sept. 3