By former resident Thomas Møgelberg, 12.2
Why build Tietgen in Lego, you probably ask yourself. At least many people have asked me this when I tell them that I made our cherished dorm in LEGO bricks. Some shake their heads at the time it
may have taken. Others notice the details with the colored bricks representing the building’s colorful curtains. Others are primarily interested in how big it is (for reference, the diameter measures 27cm while it is 12cm high).
The origins of the building project arose after I finished a couple of old LEGO models that were last built in my teens (for the LEGO StarWars nerds out there; X-Wing, Y-Wing and TIE Fighter - all parts of the Star Wars Ultimate Collectors models). With the finished Star Wars models, I missed my next hobby-LEGO project. For me, building with the well-known bricks can be both a form of creative expression and a stress reliever, so of course, I had to come up with a new construction project. For a while, I had been poking around with the idea of building Tietgen. First, it would be a fun building challenge - making a circle with squared bricks is not the logical connection. Secondly, I thought it would be a nice little gesture and thanks to Tietgen for setting the stage for some great years as a student.
Finally, building Tietgen in LEGO would be a way to make myself a little noticed and a little-remembered. My Jutlandish-self hates to admit this, but I probably can’t get around the fact that it contributed to the motivation.
ONE ROOM = ONE BRICK
With a quick e-mail to the architects Lundgaard and Tranberg, I got hold of the floor plans for the building. With the insight that each block is made up of 13 rooms (the couples room counts as two) plus the in-between-blocks-space, which counts as two “rooms” as well, that meant that a circle with an outer circumference of 75 1x1 LEGO brick (15 rooms x 5 blocks), would make the foundation for my model. From here, it was just a matter of getting started. 2,635 KRONER, ~ 3,000 BRICKS
AND TOO MANY HOURS TO COUNT
The first bricks were laid with some surplus bricks from previous building projects, and in
May 2020, the first order was placed at lego.com/pick-a-brick. DKK 662,- was the total sum
of the first order and yet another DKK 1973,- was needed before the final model could be
completed. The exact number of LEGO bricks in which DKK 2,635 can buy you, I am unsure
about, but it is probably in the somewhere around 3,500, of which some bricks ended up being in surplus or never used. The model thus counts roughly ~ 3,000 individual bricks. The number of hours it took to build the model I don’t dare to guess, but it was enough for my lovely girlfriend to fall asleep multiple times due to my non-existent ability to build LEGO and chat simultaneously.
NEXT STEP: VERNISSAGE (AND COMMERCIALIZATION?)
Today, the model resides in the administration as I have chosen to donate it to the Tietgen. It is waiting for its own vernissage which will be hosted during Tietgen Festival in collaboration with the administration. Afterwards it will be exhibited in the administration for show to curious souls.
Finally, the model will be submitted to LEGO Ideas, and with 10.000 votes, LEGO will make it into an “actual” LEGO model (as if mine is fake), that will be available in the stores.
Hopefully, you like the model enough to think it would be fun to see the model in the stores (and maybe own one yourself?), and if this is the case, please show your support by voting for the project on LEGO IDEAS.
You can find the link in the elevators at Tietgen and right here: https://urlis.net/1gqpy
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