Entertainment

The wonders of the world are hitting London – in Lego form

The Great Barrier Reef and the Great Pyramid of Giza are among the wonders being recreated for the event.
The Great Barrier Reef and the Great Pyramid of Giza are among the wonders being recreated for the event. The Great Barrier Reef and the Great Pyramid of Giza are among the wonders being recreated for the event.

Wonders of the world including the Great Barrier Reef are being displayed in London thanks to many thousands of Lego bricks and the work of some skilled technicians

The Brick Wonders exhibition is going on display at south London’s Horniman Museum, where visitors will also be able to take in the Great Pyramid of Giza and the International Space Station, among other treasures.

Technician Alistair MacKillop with a Lego model of the International Space Station
Technician Alistair MacKillop with a Lego model of the International Space Station (Dominic Lipinski)]

Also appearing in brick form will be the museum itself, complete with exhibits including the Natural History Gallery’s taxidermy ostrich with eggs.

Technician Alistair MacKillop with a Lego model of the Horniman Museum
Technician Alistair MacKillop with a Lego model of the Horniman Museum (Dominic Lipinski/PA)

The museum’s iconic overstuffed walrus has also been recreated in Lego, using 10,727 bricks in a marathon 142-hour building effort.

The walrus has been on display for over a century and is noted for its unusual appearance, lacking the skin folds the animals have in the wild – most probably because those stuffing it had no idea what a walrus was supposed to look like.

Technician Alistair MacKillop with a Lego brick model of the Horniman Museum’s famous ‘Overstuffed Walrus
Technician Alistair MacKillop with a Lego brick model of the Horniman Museum’s famous ‘Overstuffed Walrus (Dominic Lipinski/PA)

For those who like their Lego a little more on the wild side, a dinosaur-themed event is being put together at Marwell Zoo in Kent.

Brickosaurs will display up to 50 sculptures and “a few interactive surprises” when it opens on April 5.

Bright Bricks member of staff Ed Diment works on a life-size T-Rex made out of Lego
Bright Bricks member of staff Ed Diment works on a life-size T-Rex made out of Lego (Steve Parsons/PA)

Among the beasts under construction is a Tyrannosaurus rex, which will have taken creators Bright Bricks around 1,500 hours to construct by the time it is finished.

An estimated 969 days of construction work is going into the project, with more than 60 staff using over 30 million bricks to put the exhibits together.

Bright Bricks member of staff Zoe Aris works on one of the brick dinosaurs made out of Lego
Bright Bricks member of staff Zoe Aris works on one of the brick dinosaurs made out of Lego (Steve Parsons/PA)

“Brickosaurs is a genuine world first on a scale never attempted before,” said Bright Bricks creative director Ed Diment. “We are delighted Marwell Zoo will debut the event and we’re really looking forward to seeing the sculptures in place and the public’s reaction.”

For those unable to wait until April for their Lego fix, Brick Wonders opens at the Horniman Museum in Forest Hill on Saturday and runs until October.