LEGO Education - Building Asia Brick By Brick
12 Nov 2007 Category: Architecture, Events & Exhibitions, Features, Worldwide
With booming economic growth, the East Asia of today looks radically different from that 20 years ago and will change just as drastically in the next 20. But modernisation often comes at the cost of tradition, and you can see in China that thousands of older, traditional buildings have been razed and replaced. The Building Asia Brick By Brick project wants to raise awareness for traditional architecture in a more playful way: Architects from China, Japan and Thailand amongst others were given kits of white LEGO building blocks and told to have just fun. The results, from Asiatic temples to futuristic towers to sustainable old-and-new city plans are currently touring Asia. PingMag talked to Andrew Maerkle of Art AsiaPacific and Wei Wei Shannon of People’s Architecture about their Brick By Brick collaboration.
Written by Michael Mahoney
How did the Brick By Brick exhibition come about? Who got the ball rolling?
Andrew: We wanted to do a feature on current architecture practice in Asia for ArtAsiaPacific magazine, and felt the need to engage architects in a unique way, seeing how the architects respond to an unconventional but fun challenge. LEGO created the custom kits for us, choosing the white colour and providing each participant approximately 8,000 bricks of 2×2, 2×4 and 2×8 dimensions to work with.
Was that just free play or did you give the architects a certain theme?
Andrew: The idea behind Building Asia Brick By Brick was to get architects to engage spontaneously with the materials; we gave them no instructions other than to have fun!
And: Why LEGO?
Andrew: That was spontaneous, but we felt it was really appropriate as many architects grew up playing with LEGO. We contacted the company’s representatives and they were behind us from the start, and the architects we approached all responded immediately as well. So the project was driven by a sense of spontaneity and play.
What was your overall goal with Brick By Brick?
Andrew: We wanted to use the resulting models as a way to promote awareness of architectural preservation in Asia where, unfortunately, a lot of urban development takes place at the expense of historically significant or unique buildings. And by raising awareness we are really just trying to get people to look at their environments critically, because everything happens at such a rapid pace - a whole neighbourhood can transform in a half a year or less.
So, the next time people look around their own neighbourhood, they might question why the buildings aren’t nicer, or why a traditional communal structure, such as a hutong in Beijing, has been replaced by a more isolating apartment high-rise structure. In fact, they might start demanding that their high-rise apartments incorporate elements of hutong communal spaces. We’re not trying to impose any agenda here, but see heritage as something that extends beyond preserving the past to also preparing for the future. We hope that through “awareness” people can embrace whatever they feel characterises their environment, and take steps to preserve it.
Heritage protection legislation is not necessarily developed or enforced in cities in Asia the way it is in the US or Europe. Also, the very concept of heritage is constantly changing: Is a 50-year-old building worthy of protection? How about a 200-year-old building? People within the communities need to decide for themselves.
If you see the changes taking place for the Olympics in Beijing, or the restructuring in the Da Zha Lan district…
Wei Wei: Today, everyone seems to be preoccupied by the transformation taking place in China, but this cycle of destruction and reconstruction has been a recurring phenomenon throughout Chinese history. Each dynasty follows a different calendar, different ruling system, different philosophy - in some cases a different language or different measurement system - so the country has seen a continuing social, political, behavioural and spatial revolution for several millennia already. Architecture and urbanism are no different.
… and by night. Photos by Roger Mourkarzel.
The Da Zha Lan district is an old shopping place in Beijing, south of Chang’an Avenue. The entire area was informally created by the people, houses were built without rules and regulations, which implies sub-par quality. With the 2008 Beijing Olympics, China, like other countries, hopes to use the opportunity to recreate the nation’s identity. A place like Da Zha Lan, where the houses are considered dangerous and inconvenient, will be torn down.
That’s sad to hear. What can you tell us about the visitors’ feedback then? The architects’ models have been featured in the travelling Get it Louder! exhibition all over China.
Wei Wei: People love it! Kids love it! The Get it Louder! exhibition was held at shopping malls, so all the kids and families stumbled upon our exhibition by chance. They really like the white LEGO bricks which, due to their pure nature, prompt the kids to think about structure and form, instead of matching colours.
The ‘Get it Louder!’ exhibit also contains a children’s workshop component, where kids are taught a bit about urban design and then encouraged to design their own structures out of the white LEGO. What do you want the kids to get out of it?
Wei Wei: Beyond all the architecture and urbanism jargon, the most important thing is to have kids start to think about their environments from a young age. If a good percentage of them at least take an interest in learning about architecture, design and urbanism, then that’s very fulfilling.
Kids are in some ways more creative than architects. We find that kids and adults teach and learn from each other. It’s not just the kids who are learning new creative principles through experimentation - the workshop leaders are also improvising and gaining experience as they go along!
Entry by Research Architecture Design (RAD) of Hong Kong. Photo by Marcello Kwan.
When the event wraps up, the pieces will be auctioned off in New York. What happens then?
Andrew: We plan to donate proceeds to education. Ultimately, we see Building Asia Brick By Brick as a metaphor for reaching one child at a time (and the potential of that individual to eventually turn around and inspire somebody else), and providing for educational resources seems like the most effective way of archieving this.
Having fun building at the Beijing workshop… Courtesy of BABB.
…that was held this August, 2007. Courtesy of BABB.
What a nice and playful way to approach the kids. Thanks Wei Wei and Andrew. We hope to see the Brick By Brick exhibition in Tokyo soon, too.
49 Comments
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amazing!!
Posted by: Lewis Kwan on November 12th, 2007 at 9:14 pm
Gotta dig this! Also, go check Bjarke Ingels LEGO Towers!
It’s amazing :)
Posted by: Nuno on November 12th, 2007 at 11:10 pm
totally badass. i wish i had my old lego.
Posted by: k sammy on November 13th, 2007 at 1:17 am
brings back my childhood memories
absolutely great to see how cool this product actually is. reinvented coolness
Posted by: neel on November 13th, 2007 at 1:27 am
LEGO rocks!
Posted by: Akai on November 13th, 2007 at 5:23 am
The second shot of Guangzhou from ‘MY IDEAL GUANGZHOU’ is my favorite!
Posted by: Ben on November 13th, 2007 at 11:25 am
I want one of those custom kits of LEGO bricks the Architects got!
Posted by: aerodi on November 13th, 2007 at 2:22 pm
Have you guys used the lego simutator builder at http://www.lego.com? U can first build what ever design and then order the peaces! I love legos!
Posted by: kimmo on November 13th, 2007 at 6:57 pm
[...] kits of white LEGO building blocks and told to have just fun. Once again, an excellent article at PingMag. architecture, art, design, toys, [...]
Posted by: Building Asia Brick By Brick – today and tomorrow on November 13th, 2007 at 8:27 pm
yes wonderful. how kawai if someone could build world of found girl’s face from lego. maybe even whole body. good article. i like.
Posted by: minako on November 13th, 2007 at 9:22 pm
An architect’s creavity is a enviable thing…sigh.
Posted by: nwl on November 13th, 2007 at 10:06 pm
I’ve come back here so many times today to view the designs. they are amazing.
Posted by: Anonymous on November 13th, 2007 at 11:37 pm
Brick wonder!
Posted by: clara on November 14th, 2007 at 2:03 am
southeast.sandiego.
Posted by: vagoloko on November 14th, 2007 at 4:50 am
Yawn
Posted by: Anonymous on November 14th, 2007 at 6:59 am
Another nice review on this thing from Lynn Becker;
http://lynnbecker.com/repeat/brickbybrick/toyfutures.htm
Posted by: Anonymous on November 14th, 2007 at 10:59 am
[...] PingMag - The Tokyo-based magazine about “Design and Making Things” » Archive » LEGO Education… [...]
Posted by: the adventures of teapot the cat » PingMag - The Tokyo-based magazine about “Design and Making Things” » Archive » LEGO Education -Building Asia Brick By Brick on November 15th, 2007 at 9:18 am
What a fun article! Do you think Brick By Brick could tour the U.S.?
Posted by: Sally on November 17th, 2007 at 4:35 am
GO LEGO~
Posted by: saydie13 on November 17th, 2007 at 2:46 pm
What a great project! LEGO is tha sh*t!!
Posted by: Nems on November 18th, 2007 at 12:29 am
Lego is the best. I need to search for my lego box , could try to make some art with it.
Posted by: Chung Dha on November 19th, 2007 at 11:50 pm
[...] PingMag These icons link to social bookmarking sites where readers can share and discover new web [...]
Posted by: Below The Clouds » Lego är framtiden on November 23rd, 2007 at 4:50 pm
[...] PingMag - The Tokyo-based magazine about “Design and Making Things” » Archive » LEGO Education… lego + architects = jody (tags: architecture art lego) [...]
Posted by: links for 2007-11-23 « thedysh on November 23rd, 2007 at 9:19 pm
what a great project, though it would’ve been nice if Art AsiaPacific, Lego, or Ping had bothered to namecheck Olafur Eliasson, who’s done exactly this same thing at biennials and museums several times over the last 3-4 years, including about six months ago at the National Gallery Victoria in Melbourne Aus.
Posted by: dane fan on November 24th, 2007 at 3:37 am
I’d really like to see Angkor Wat recreated in lego!
Posted by: Dylan on November 24th, 2007 at 2:08 pm
[...] PingMag » LEGO Education -Building Asia Brick By Brick PingMag talked to Andrew Maerkle of Art AsiaPacific and Wei Wei Shannon of People’s Architecture about their Brick By Brick collaboration (tags: lego architecture art design interview sculpture) [...]
Posted by: no sense of place :: links for 2007-11-16 on November 27th, 2007 at 6:46 pm
Not only the kids love it, great exhibition. maybe need to blow some cigarette smoke on it though to recreate the pollution levels in some of the Asian cities
Posted by: Chris Heath on January 28th, 2008 at 7:49 pm
[...] Arquitectura de Lego Construções surpreendentes. PingMag. [...]
Posted by: Earthlings + at Quinta do Sargaçal on February 6th, 2008 at 6:22 am
I had a similar experience in Oslo Norway the summer of 2006. The event was covered in Aftenposten, Norways leading newspaper (in norwegian unfortunately, but the pictures and videos speak for themselves)
http://oslopuls.no/kunst/article1445881.ece
http://oslopuls.no/kunst/article1444049.ece
Posted by: Herman on February 15th, 2008 at 5:00 am
such talent!
Posted by: Joanne on February 20th, 2008 at 11:41 pm
[...] PingMag - LEGO Education - Building Asia Brick By Brick A LEGO-based architecture competition (tags: design lego architecture sculpture art blog) [...]
Posted by: Guillaume’s blog » Blog Archive » links for 2008-02-24 on February 24th, 2008 at 5:43 pm
Wow, some of the designs are amazing. These events are great for kids in helping them to find out if architecture is their chosen profession.
Posted by: Neil on April 16th, 2008 at 2:18 pm
Great to see their designs lit up.
Posted by: Lyn Smith on April 16th, 2008 at 2:19 pm
I used to love Lego when I was a kid, but my designs were nowhere near as good as these.
Posted by: Peter Bland on April 16th, 2008 at 2:21 pm
everytime I see a child playing with lego I will be looking at the future generations of architects! Brilliant.
Posted by: International Architect on June 3rd, 2008 at 6:23 pm
[...] One mentionable post worth seeing: LEGO Education [...]
Posted by: 7 (lesser know) awesome picture blogs « Picdit on August 5th, 2008 at 12:45 am
[...] One mentionable post worth seeing: LEGO Education [...]
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[...] One mentionable post worth seeing: LEGO Education [...]
Posted by: Picdit » Blog Archive » 7 (lesser know) awesome picture blogs on October 27th, 2008 at 11:17 pm
i wish to participate this project as well in the future, just awesome of PLAY + education!!!! SUPER cool!
Posted by: yeohgh on November 28th, 2008 at 5:10 pm
they are wonderfull..compliments!
Posted by: high professional on February 15th, 2009 at 1:53 pm
[...] idea that it’s hard to find basic bricks came from either. Inspired by Robin’s post and this set of amazing images, I spent most of my birthday shopping for Lego. The cheapest $/brick kit that I could find was the [...]
Posted by: There is no single-use Lego | Quiet Babylon on October 3rd, 2009 at 1:09 am
I spent most of my birthday shopping for Lego.Thanks.
Posted by: Property Bangkok on October 28th, 2009 at 3:11 pm
I wish to participate this project as well in the future, just awesome of play education…
Posted by: Thai Orchid on October 28th, 2009 at 3:12 pm
Great. They are wonderfull compliments…
Posted by: escorts london on October 28th, 2009 at 3:13 pm
One mentionable post worth seeing: LEGO Education..Thanks.
Posted by: 24 hour escorts london on October 28th, 2009 at 3:15 pm
I see a child playing with lego I will be looking at the future generations of architects! Brilliant.Good.
Posted by: CCTV on October 28th, 2009 at 3:16 pm
We used to love Lego when weI was a kid, but our designs were nowhere near as good as these.Great.
Posted by: hotel bangkok on October 28th, 2009 at 3:17 pm
Great to see their designs lit up. Thanks.
Posted by: ร้านดอกไม้ on October 28th, 2009 at 3:18 pm
I had a similar experience in Oslo Norway the summer of 2006. Thanks.
Posted by: Marketing on October 28th, 2009 at 3:20 pm