A Seattle woman named Alice Finch conjured up about 400,000 LEGO blocks to create this gigantic and oh-so-magical rendition of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry last October and went on to win two big prizes at LEGO’s BrickCon 2012.
Self-described “brick artist” Nathan Sawaya is known for his incredible art pieces constructed with LEGO. Sawaya was a New York City lawyer until 2004, when he made the courageous decision to make art his profession, even while saddled with $100,000 in debt from student loans. Now that his intricate pieces have garnered attention from clients worldwide, including Donald Trump and Bill Clinton, Sawaya spends six figures on LEGO pieces annually. Some of his large-scale works — such as a six-foot-tall Han Solo frozen in carbonite (shown in the gallery above) and a Tyrannosaurus rex skeleton twenty feet in length — require as many as 80,000 LEGO pieces.
Sawaya’s success is a testament to people following their passions, regardless of whether the idea seems likely to bear fruit. He said of his career:
“I had creative periods now and again, but it wasn’t until I was practicing law that I really needed a creative outlet. I’d come home from long days at the office and draw, paint, and sculpt from clay, wire–even candy. I liked the concept of something additive in nature–where small pieces lead to a larger form. That’s when I thought, ‘What about this toy from my childhood?'”
The rest, as they say, was history.
They say that Rome wasn’t built in a day and I’ll bet this impressive masterpiece wasn’t either.
.jpg "LEGO Roman Colosseum")
I’m stunned by the scale, accuracy and mind blowing detail of this massive 200,000-piece Lego Roman Colosseum, made to minifig scale. Built for the University of Sydney, it shows both the Colosseum from two thousand years ago and its current state.
Made by certified Lego builder Ryan McNaught, it is, without a single doubt, the most impressive Lego architecture I’ve ever seen. It’s also ”the most technically challenging thing” ever built by McNaught, he says, which probably makes it one of the most challenging Lego models ever created:
I’ve really got a new appreciation for the Romans and how they made things. For me, the challenge of making something oval-shaped out of square bricks was mind-boggling.
Video Description:
An academic team project, spanning 12 weeks, representing approx 1000 hours work. This project represented approx 120-160 hours per person, and one quarter of their final semester workload…
All content originated by BA(Hons) VFX : Visual Effects + Concept Design students, Pedrom DADGOSTAR, Hollie PRICE, Jack MILTON, Simon STIRRUP, Sam SERRIDGE, Jack BOSWORTH and Sidney THIBAULT.
A great project people, especially given the challenges the film posed. Fantastic team work, great technical solutions and professional approach throughout.
Rendered on Workstation Specialist’s great WS2610 systems… Including dynamic / particle effects simulations…