Here is my version of famous Eiffel Tower. Unlike Palace of Culture, i have never seen it with my own eyes, so i was building entirely using photos and blueprints as a reference. It is more like artistic impression of the Tower, then the exact model, but taking in consideration that this shape is not very brick friendly, i’m pretty happy with the end result. There is a little story behind it too, so “stay away and listen”.

When we in Zbudujmy.to were preparing both iconic landmarks of Poland for the Zone of Adult Fans of LEGO, and for the big map of Poland, LEGO Poland asked us to build a project so the can gift it to one of it’s partners. The deal was it was urgent and the bricks had to be ordered within one week. With all the people, including me, busy building other stuff, there was no one else willing to take up the challenge. But i did.

This time there were no exact model built in LDD, i just prepared some proof of concept of some parts with real bricks. IE. i built one of the “legs” but half the length, then put it to the software and multiplied it 16 times as the middle module would be using the same technique (4 legs + 4 middle modules, and all of them 2 times longer). Then i tried to estimate how many other bricks i would need. I asked some extra bricks too, as without exact plan you need to have some field to maneuver.  Given the circumstances that was perfectly ok, with LEGO Poland.

So the order was made and i was waiting for bricks, in the meantime building other stuff for the map and of course Palace of Culture, which was taking much longer to build due to missing some key bricks in the order (i need to publish behind the scenes of building Palace of Culture too). So it was already missing the deadline. Finally bricks have arrived and i could start building.

Some parts, like the upper spire, i was redoing over 10 times before i got mildly satisfied. The basic shape was built pretty quickly, but the iterations on details ware talking long. Too long, too short, to wide… Each correction required rebuilding big chunks  of the model to make any change. It was a lot of work, but it was also pretty enjoyable. Unfortunately the technique i have choose was not strong enough to hold entire construction, so u had to add 4 pilars made from transparent bricks to help support it. I was also getting inspired by other LEGO models of the Tower, especially one by Sean Kenney, whose crowd idea is something adding life to the build.

I wouldn’t be able to build it if i were not helped by my faithful companion little Krusia rabbit.

It was passed to LEGO Poland, and i decided not to put any images until The Tower stands in it’s destination, not to break surprise.  Weeks were passing as i was waiting for the information how did the owner of the model liked my construction. Then breaking news came – due to some changes they wont be getting the model at all! Instead it will stand at the LEGO Poland offices.  At first it made me a little sad, then i realized it is even better for me! How many AFOLs can say their models stand in LEGO Offices*?

*actually there are quite many in the Community Team offices.

In the end i’m  happy with how this ended up. I built great model, had a lot of fun, got some spare bricks in the way, and made cooperation between Polish AFOLs and LEGO Poland flourish.

Oh and if you wonder – the build took about 16000 bricks, is’s base is 96×96 studs in size, and the height is almost 150cm.  On occasion i want to thank all people who helped make it happen, especially Zbudyjmy.to colleagues, LEGO Poland employees, Jan Beyer,  Katarzyna Śmietanka and my Ania. Thank you!

Here is me with the model doing Eiffel Tower trick with yoyo. I can do some more “lego set” tricks with yoyo, which i will be presenting during next Fan Weekend – if you will be there, just grab me and ask for presentation 😉