The world record was broken by the diorama built from one million Lego bricks, which was created by members of the RoLUG club under the coordination of Czilli Botond from Nagyvárad and the creative leadership of Czilli Bence.
The advertising graphic designer and his son, a high school graduate, shared the history of the project, the choice of the Star Wars theme, and how the 800-kilogram model arrived in Bucharest on April 19-21. for the East European Comic Con (EECC) event organized between
Bringing the Star Wars universe to life, they covered an area of more than 45 square meters with one million Lego building blocks. How did the three-year work go, which recently paid off with the world record?
The diorama had more humble beginnings: it started as a father-son project, a much smaller detail, which, however, was so liked by the members of our club that more and more people joined and contributed to its expansion. Since the members of our club - RoLUG (Romanian Lego User Group, a club officially recognized by LEGO) - live in different parts of the country, the coordination took place online.
Photo: Lego PR/Botond Czilli
Each of us chose and built the buildings, locations, and scenes that he liked. Every year, the diorama continued to expand: in the spring of 2022, it started with a 4-square-meter section, which we exhibited in the Parklake Mall in Bucharest, in August we were present at the EECC with more than 12 square meters, and by last year's ComicCon and Artsafari Kids Edition, it had already grown to almost 28 square meters. And this year, with the help of LEGO Romania and LEGO Hungary, we managed to achieve the world record.
During the entire process, we coordinated the work based on a fairly detailed and continuously expanding blueprint, and then in the two days before ComicCon, we put the whole thing on the table like a puzzle.
On what basis was this theme chosen, did the 25th anniversary of Star Wars Legos play a decisive role?
The anniversary itself was less decisive, as all of our exhibits have Star Wars-themed dioramas. Most of the members of our club are not only Lego fans, but also Star Wars fans. However, there are also participants in the project who do not know the world of Star Wars at all, but they liked the topic so much that they also got involved. What influenced us was the choice of location and story: most Star Wars-themed lego dioramas are based on either the original or the prequels.
We deliberately chose the animated series Star Wars Rebels as a setting and story, as we feel that it is an unfairly neglected part of the Star Wars universe, and also plays a very important role in the recently released Ahsoka series - effectively a prequel to the Ahsoka series, or vice versa. Ahsoka series is the continuation of the animated series.
The last square meter was added with the help of fans who attended last week's East European Comic Con (EECC). How was the world's largest diorama of its kind transported to Bucharest?
We wanted to involve the audience in the construction of the diorama, and we are glad that we succeeded. We hope that many of you are interested in building with Lego blocks.
The diorama weighs about 800 kilograms and can be stored in a box of approximately 30 cubic meters, so getting it all to the location was a serious logistical operation.
Part of it was built in Bucharest by the members there, part of it has been stored there since last year, and the rest arrived from different parts of the country (e.g. Cluj, Nagyvárad, Marosvásárhely, Arad) by courier or car before the event.
Photo: Lego PR/Botond Czilli
What kind of professional feedback has been received on the detailed model, and how does this affect the further work of the RoLUG community of Lego watch fans?
All the feedback so far, both from professionals and fans, has been very positive, we feel that our diorama is a huge success.
We jokingly said to each other that we have now set the bar so high that it will be difficult for us to jump from now on.
Can the artwork be viewed somewhere permanently or periodically?
The diorama is exhibited periodically, but this year it will be shown in several places. Requests are constantly coming in, we are trying to get them to as many places as possible.
What are the team's future plans, what will they surprise Lego fans next?
Up until now, we have focused solely on making the record attempt a success, and at the moment it is primarily on getting the diorama to as many places as possible. There are no concrete, set-in-stone plans yet, but we are already actively discussing new ideas and possible topics among ourselves.
Featured image: Lego PR/Botond Czilli
