Like most kids growing up in the ’80s and ’90s, Shane Deegan had a plastic bin chock full of LEGO® bricks—colorful geometric pieces mixed together with little yellow figures from space, pirate, and castle-themed sets—from which he would snap together imaginary worlds. His first LEGO® was a helicopter, acquired in a McDonald’s Happy Meal, and he would add dozens of sets to his collection over the years, eventually moving beyond the predetermined kits to become part of the LEGO® MOC (my own creation) community, where, as the name suggests, creators use LEGO® bricks to construct their own designs. For Deegan, who grew up in the greater Seattle area, that has included models of Pike Place Market, Husky Stadium and Dick’s Drive-In, and T-Mobile park, the latter of which garnered thousands of “likes” on Twitter and a feature in the Seattle Times.
Now, the public can see Deegan’s latest Northwest-centric creation—a miniature replica of the Museum of History and Industry (MOHAI)—as part of the organization’s new exhibition, Towers of Tomorrow with LEGO® Bricks. Produced by Museums of History NSW and toured internationally by Flying Fish, a creator of traveling exhibitions, Towers of Tomorrow features 20 iconic skyscrapers from around the world, among them Chicago’s Willis Tower, Toronto’s CN Tower, the International Commerce Centre in Hong Kong. MOHAI also included a brief history of LEGO®, and—because it’s nearly impossible to be around so many models and not get an itch in your hand to touch them—200,000 loose LEGO® bricks for the construction and display of creations by patrons.
“This is an opportunity for families to come in and have fun but also learn together,” says Devorah Romanek, MOHAI’s chief of exhibits and interpretive services. “Seattle is a center of innovation, so we think this exhibition is perfect for the city. It’s an interesting way to experience creativity and analytical thinking through play. There’s something for everybody, whether you’re interested in art, engineering, or architecture.”
The models, all built at a 1:200 scale by Ryan McNaught—a LEGO® Certified Professional—contain more than 600,000 bricks. Shipped from Australia in segments, each one is constructed onsite. “Good crating is the key to ensuring they don’t arrive in a million pieces,” says Trent Brown, vice president of operations for Flying Fish Exhibitions. “Each crate is specifically designed to hold a specific piece or pieces. They are well cushioned, protected, and held in place by strapping, special foam, and a little bit of pressure to ensure they don’t come apart. We also use freight specialists who move precious goods throughout the world. They ensure the crates are not being mistreated throughout their journey.”
McNaught, who, along with his team, spent more than 2,000 hours on construction for the exhibition, is one of just 23 LEGO® Certified Professionals (LCPs) in the world. Although they aren’t employed by LEGO®, LCPs do work with the company, evangelizing the joy that comes from working and creating with LEGO®.
“We all operate independently, and mostly undertake LEGO® -based business that the LEGO® Group does not have a mandate to do or doesn't have resources for,” says Canada-based LCP Robin Sather, a lifelong LEGO® enthusiast who helped the company create the LCP program, becoming its first LCP in 2005. Sather, who also works in the Information Technology field, is the head "Brickmaster" at Brickville DesignWorks. “That could be public LEGO® -centric events and activities, custom commissioned builds, created gift models, and of course, exhibits like Towers of Tomorrow.”
Sather has toured with the exhibition throughout North America, having the opportunity to view and interact with the installations at length. “What impresses me about the buildings are the wide variety of building techniques that Ryan used in creating these towers,” he says. “They are all very unique in their style, and clever use of LEGO elements. I won't spoil it for you, but one of the buildings is actually built with all the bricks upside down!”
Models of this size (the towers stand as tall as 14 feet and three of them had to be displayed in the lobby) are often mapped out in render programs in advance of a build. According to Deegan, many members of the MOC community use these programs. “It’s safer, more efficient, lets you recreate the experience after you’re done and allows you to understand your needs before you start building.” He, however, prefers the old-fashioned method of cracking open a box and letting his imagination run. “I like the tactile experience of just digging into a bin and finding the bricks I need, figuring out how to solve challenges with my available materials,” he explains. “It creates a ton of inefficiency and trial and error, but it also gives me the sensation of play! It leaves it in the realm of art more than science.”
Deegan’s MOHAI model, which is proportionally accurate, took just over a month to build and contains up to 4,279 bricks. (Deegan notes that this is how many pieces he ordered for the project but can’t say if they all made it in in the end.) “I worked nights for an hour or two at a time until my brain turned off,” he says. “The biggest challenge with MOHAI was knowing that my build would be sitting inside the actual MOHAI. It is incredibly cool art deco building, so if I cheated anything or didn’t quite pull it off everybody would notice.” Fun moments—a stand-up paddleboarder in the nearby water, the rows of windows, museumgoers looking at towers from the exhibition—make the model feel familiar and demonstrate Deegan’s attention to detail.
There’s just something about LEGO®. Its simplicity, universality, and potential—its ability to unlock within people of all ages the itch to create—make it an enduring form of a play. For Deegan, the balance of creation and limitation intrigues him. “If you have enough bricks you can build anything in the universe,” he says. “The possibilities are literally endless. But within that endless imagination, your bricks have to match up to click into place or it doesn’t work. So, you get to a spot in a puzzle that you have to solve, or you can’t move forward. Sometimes providing limitations to an artist and saying, ‘How far can you push yourself within the constraints of this medium?’ feels more freeing and creative than saying, “Here’s a blank canvas, do whatever you want.’”
Brickmaster Robin Sather also cites boundless possibility as part of the magic of LEGO®. “Put a pile of bricks in front of almost anyone, and it's almost automatic,” he says. “Your hands will start putting bricks together, and before you know it, you've created something! I think that's the secret LEGO® sauce—it's so easy, safe, and intuitive to put those bricks together. You can be creative without even thinking about it.”
Towers of Tomorrow with LEGO® Bricks runs through September 22, 2024.
