I recently had a conversation with someone who argued Legos should only ever be built to the instructions of the kit, you should never dismantle them and make what your heart desires. That’s ridiculous and is clearly not a belief held by Richard Paules, who has just thrown the covers off an incredible Lego replica of Washington’s Dulles Airport.
The immense model is a painstaking recreation of the American airport, and Simply Flying reports that it took Paules almost a year to construct from more than 45,000 Lego bricks. Impressive stuff.
The Lego airport, which is on display at the real airport that inspired it, measures a whopping four-feet by eight-feet and comprises a large terminal building and even a control tower. There are also people inside the terminal building checking in their luggage or hailing Lego cars on the road outside. It’s beautiful.
Paules, who is a Washington local, has a history constructing outlandish Lego buildings and previously recreated Florence Cathedral and Westminster Abbey out of bricks. While the new model might be missing Gothic architecture and intricate stonework, the task of recreating a modern building like Dulles was just as challenging. As local news outlet ABC7 reports:
The project did come with it’s share of challenges, most notably with the building’s iconic roof. He said he mostly used three types of pieces on the canopy roof, making it a technical challenge. He said that if it didn’t work out he would’ve given up.
“I was so worried about this [canopy roof] being too heavy that it was just gonna pull the columns in,” Paules said.
To combat this Paules said he placed the roof in segments and slowly added them on as he went. He only used three types of pieces for the roof.
Once construction on the replica finished in November, it was quickly snapped up by Dulles Airport, which has proudly put it on display in the terminal. Now that he’s got his building space back, Paules says he has his eyes on another American airport to construct from Legos. As Simply Flying adds:
With another successful replica built, the Lego master builder is not done yet. Paules reportedly said he plans to craft a replica of nearby Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport and a model map of Washington DC.
After Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport is constructed, what would you like to see Paules immortalize in Legos next? Maybe some outlandish architecture like the Petersen Museum?