Teenagers build a city made entirely out of Lego bricks at Burbank Central Library
Dozens of teenagers congregated at the Burbank Central Library Friday to build Legotopia, a city made entirely of Lego bricks.
Teenagers immediately began rummaging through bins containing hundreds of multicolored Lego blocks before the two featured speakers — Peter Abrahamson and Brandon Griffith — gave an introduction to the day’s event. The finished products will be on display in the library.
The two Lego enthusiasts encouraged participants to brainstorm on how big they wanted their creations to be and keep in mind the colors and shapes needed for specific buildings, such as IKEA.
“Do you want it to scale? Do you want it microsize? Or do you want to maintain a certain color pattern?” Abrahamson said.
They also encouraged students to think of everyday items such as cars, benches and trees.
Sisters Caleigh Paster, 17, and Maya Paster, 14, got to work on building the Griffith Observatory. It was their first time building an “ambitious project” without using a Lego kit.
“We saw the Griffith Observatory built at Legoland and it looked like it’d be fun to build, but it’s not going to be easy,” Maya said.
The two sisters had played with Lego blocks before because of their younger brother, and they have found an appreciation for the toys, Caleigh said, because it allows anyone to build historic landmarks.
Sun Valley resident Camilla Cabaellro, 14, gathered a handful of blocks and plates but still wasn’t sure what she wanted to build.
“I usually draw, but I like that with Legos, I can build whatever I want, and it can be anything random,” she said.
As participants began working on their projects, Griffith and Abrahamson displayed some of their prized Lego creations, which include a model of the house depicted in the movie “Psycho,” scenes from “Star Wars” movies and characters from “We Bare Bears,” a show on Cartoon Network.
The two have been playing with Lego blocks since they were little and are now members of the Lego Users Group of Los Angeles, an adult fan club. While some artists use paint brushes or sculpt with clay, Lego blocks are the preferred medium for Abrahamson and Griffith.
“Legos are toys that energize the brain and engage math skills unlike video games or other toys,” Griffith said. “It’s a toy that always brings new experiences.”
Twitter: @vegapriscella
