After staying in the house for more than a year, Guangzhou local original Lego designer Li Shiyilang launched a new work, “I am a Chinese”, a Chinese-style work based on the Beijing Palace Museum. This 4mx2.4m work took a year and used 700,000 Lego pixel particles. Standing in front of this work, the audience seems to overlook the entire Forbidden City.

Li Shiyilang, whose real name is Li Zhining, claims to be a folk Lego designer without official certification, but since 2017, he has launched a large-scale MOC every year (My Own Creation, which means that he does not design new works according to the drawings of the official Lego set) , London’s Palace of Westminster, Saint Seiya’s Golden Zodiac, and then to super large Lego pixel paintings.

Li Shiyilang’s works are all built with ordinary Lego pieces, and the difficulty is evident.Photo by Nandu reporter Zhang Chi

During the epidemic last year, Li Shiyilang’s work almost stagnated, but new ideas were also emerging at this time: Lego has not tried Chinese style works for so many years, and he hopes to create one with the Lego bricks he is good at. Works reflecting Chinese power and Chinese wisdom. Last year was the 600th anniversary of the completion of the Forbidden City. Li Shilang, who had never been to Beijing, decided to use the Forbidden City as a prototype.

The work contains more than 70 buildings, large and small.Photo by Nandu reporter Zhang Chi

Compared with many Lego gods at home and abroad, Li Shiyilang is a very traditional craftsman. He has never used computer design, let alone modeling. “I created my creation by searching the pictures on the Internet and incorporating my understanding of Chinese style architecture.” Shichi Lang said, only drawing the simplest design drawings on white paper, indicating the location of each building. “Then follow the feeling, modify it again, and the finished product will come out.” Li Shiyilang said with a smile, this “specialty” also restricted him from participating in limited-time competitions, “because when I feel nervous, my brain becomes blank. ”

The initial construction was carried out on a 38cmx38cm building block base plate. Each building is based on Li Shishilang comparing the data map, using his many years of experience to select parts and strive to restore the body. “Because the studio is not big, so I can only do it part by part. And with the experience of previous exhibitions, I will first consider transportation when making it.” Li Shiyilang finally spent 60 plates to create.

Details such as the imperial garden, city wall, moat, four city gates and turrets are all presented in the work.Photo by Nandu reporter Zhang Chi

The special feature of this work is that Li Shiyilang used the Lego ratio to play the concept. From the Meridian Gate, it was built according to the 1:1 ratio of Lego figures. After that, the Hall of Supreme Harmony, the Hall of Zhonghe, and the Hall of Baohe were gradually developed. Miniature, large, medium and small ratios overlap each other. “Because of the limitations of the site and design, only in this way can architectural elements such as the four gates, the three halls, the rear three palaces, the imperial garden and the Ci Ning Garden be presented.” Different proportions can be coordinated in the overall effect, Li Shiyi Lang believes that this is the highlight of this work.

Li Shichilang, who doesn’t like to use special parts for creation, chose ordinary Lego parts for his work this time. “All the parts are available in stock in the warehouse.” He has collected more than 11 tons of Lego for more than 14 years. Lego parts. “The difficulty of production is to find what you want in the 11-ton parts, and the second is to build it separately. The accuracy of some connections needs to be re-adjusted.”

It took a year. After the work was completed, he borrowed a friend’s storefront and merged the 60 floor plates of the completed construction to present the most complete work. “Unfortunately, we haven’t found a suitable exhibition hall for sustainable display.”

Li Shiyilang and his original work-Palace of Westminster in London.Photo by Liang Weipei, a reporter from the Southern Metropolis

Speaking of this new work, Li Shiyilang is proud of him. He said: “It is not a foreigner who can play Lego. In China, in Panyu, Guangzhou, there is a person who can create such a work.”

Works in Paris (France) 2020. Em Emem is an artist living in the city of Lyon in southeastern France. He spends a lot of time filling the potholes and cracks in the walls with colorful mosaic designs. This is called the process of “flacing” – a pun on the French word “flaque”, which means puddle or patch. Self-identifying as a sidewalk poet, a child of the street, E.Emem began working on his works in 2016 after being inspired by the “scarred” surfaces of the old alley. “My works are stories about the city,” he says. E.Emem is continuing his sidewalk patch work with a project to be carried out from May 3 to 21 near the site of the Grand Paris Express tram network in the Ile-de-France region. He also participated in a group exhibition called Ceramics Now to be held from June 8 to July 17, 2021 at the La Galerie Italienne exhibition area in Paris. Some works of artist Em Emem: The work was made in 2018 in the city of Sete (France). The work is done in 2020 in Paris (France). The work called “One Love” was completed in 2017 in the city of Lyon (France). The work was done in 2018 in the city of Stavanger (Norway). The work “Kiss Haring” in 2017 in Lyon city (France). Works in 2020 in Paris (France). The work called “Arlequino” in Turin (Italy) was made in 2017. The work is located in the city of Sete (France), completed in 2018. LOVE (with lego material) in Creteil (France) in 2020. The work “Nouvel Angle” in Lyon city (France) was made in 2016.

Hoang Dang. Photo: Reuters In a cramped room, with boxes, drawers and wardrobes filled with Lego bricks that were packed floor to ceiling, Hoang Dang attentively built a blue and yellow fishing boat with a Vietnamese flag. glow. Reuters said that this industrial designer has long loved Lego, but he only collected this toy a few years ago while on a business trip to Detroit, USA. Here, Hoang Dang was very surprised by the series of products available in the US. With a toy that recreates Vietnamese streets, Hoang Dang is most inspired by scenes close to his home, carefully recreating his childhood home, a pagoda in the Old Quarter in Hanoi. and the living room in the 1990s during Tet. All scenes are subtly and colorful in miniature. “I want to bring my perspective to my friends around the world, because the Lego building community in Vietnam is still little known regionally and internationally,” he said. Hoang is halfway through his journey to conquer the goal of building 10 large-scale works for exhibition. Hoang Dang said that it will take about 5 months to complete the facade with 5,000 pieces, although most of that time is spent on finding the right pieces. “I usually spend the whole evening looking for just one Lego brick,” Hoang said. Bao Anh honored the person who recreated the Vietnamese street with lego Although he is a collector who owns more than 2 million Lego bricks, Hoang is always looking for new pieces. In Ho Chi Minh City, Hoang has a friend who shares his passion, Khang Huynh. The two met through a Facebook group dedicated to Lego builders and collectors. Lego stands for “leg godt” which means fun in Danish. “Playing Lego helps us recharge our creativity after long and tiring projects,” Hoang said. Hoang and Khang both love to take pictures of what inspired them on the street, then recreate it with bricks. To Khang, it is images on the street like a Honda motorcycle.

Dang Huy Hoang (born 1990, Hanoi) is an automotive design engineer who graduated from art school in the US. Not only in Vietnam, but also in the international Lego Association, Huy Hoang is also quite famous for owning a collection of up to thousands of models. The 31-year-old engineer’s Lego sets are of different sizes. He even has a hobby of collecting rare Lego models, produced in the 60s. Hoang began to learn and know about this hobby in 2012, while studying in the US. At first, Hoang bought each set with specific assembly instructions, after a period of in-depth research, he began to design his own work. Up to now, he owns about 70% of Lego sets produced from 1989-2000, in the future, he will aim to collect the whole set. Hoang also buys and stores limited edition models that are no longer manufactured in the world. His passion for jigsaw puzzles dates back to when Hoang was a child. Now, besides professional work, Lego is a great world for him to unleash his creativity. “On the surface, these are just incredibly simple assemblies, but with almost limitless possibilities. How it is made depends on your creativity. This is a healthy way of entertainment, preventing me from burying my head on the phone “. In addition to the available models, from the beginning of 2020, Hoang began to arrange Lego to recreate the scene of the village, the Vietnamese temple, the childhood house, the old town of Hanoi … In order to create a unique character for the collection, Hoang took ideas from real scenes and things in the city – where he was born and raised. All scenes are exquisitely miniature and colorful. For example, in order to recreate a boat, Hoang had to learn, collect some actual images, and calculate the proportions of each part. Then, he researched Lego’s available piece, choosing to experiment with a part of the boat to choose the optimal option. On average, Hoang takes about 2 months to sketch and find the right pieces for each work. After that, it takes about 2-3 months to assemble and complete the project. “To have a work created by me, the most important factor is to decide the proportions of the product. After choosing the proportions, I can choose the pieces to assemble the ingredients.” During more than 8 years of playing, his most satisfied product is a cyclo. This is also one of the products that gives Hoang the most emotion and effort. “The cyclo is assembled from more than 1,000 parts. To simulate real life, it takes me about 3 months, searching and collecting the pieces. Also, the cyclo cushion and cover, I have to ordered from a 1998 girls’ Lego collection. “ The Ha Thanh boy revealed that the cost of this hobby is quite expensive, but he liked it so he could not stop. “Just like some of you like shoes, bags, plants, pets … I like Lego. Once I have self-control, I can balance my expenses so that I can play without bothering. Especially, the most important thing is that I always receive support from my wife and family “. Engineer Ha Thanh said that it is very difficult to preserve these models. Must have anti-dust glass cabinets, to the details in the box, classified according to each color group and avoid exposure to sunlight. The puzzle pieces are clearly divided to facilitate inventory and extraction when needed. In the future, Hoang wishes to expand the space into a gallery or museum for his collection.