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Nathan Sawaya on Design Challenges

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Nathan Sawaya opens up the possibility of Lego Master and Lego Masters.
Pictures: Beck Media

Wanting to do a Lego show is one thing. Actually doing a show about Lego is something else. You need a professional. Someone to make sure you do things right and have everything you need. You need someone like Nathan Sawaya.

Sawaya is the only person in the world to hold both the titles of "Lego Certified Professional" and "Lego Master Builder. ”She did international art exhibitions with TED Talk, he has four Lego-centric Guinness World Records, and starting next week, he adds a new title for his continuation: Producer Consultation. Sawaya helped the team behind the scenes Lego Masters, Repeating Foxx to hit Britain takes creativity and randomness behind popular cooking shows and brings it to the Lego building. Also, hosted by Lego Batman himself, Will Arnett.

"This thing about Lego is universal," Sawaya told i9 recently. “Anyone can do it. Everyone can build Lego. You don't have to speak the same language, but you can speak that Lego language, and that's what makes it accessible, easily accessible. ”

For the show, Sawaya in particular helped behind the scenes, creating some of the set's costumes and various instruments. "I was just a musician in my neighborhood and I was building fast," she says. But what was most needed was his expertise in helping with the challenges, running the gamut from "Theme Park" and "Mega City" to "Good vs Evil" and "star Wars. ”

“I've worked with a very challenging team, speaking like this, what should you do to get the contestants done? How much time will we need? ”Said Sawaya. “Time was a big thing. If we challenge them to do X or Y, how long does that take? Would that take 10 hours? Will that take 15 hours? Kind of mimic that and understand it. ”

And while, yes, that sounds like a lot of time, if ever Have you ever created any special Lego sets, you know it takes longer than you think.

Host hosted by Arnett and a cast of Lego Masters.
Pictures: Ray Mickshaw (FOX)

I9 spoke to Sawaya at his studio in North Hollywood, which is filled with individual million bricks and tons of images of all sizes and sizes. Some were just for entertainment, some for various art exhibitions or commissions. And it all makes you think, "How the hell did you become a professional Lego builder?"

"I was practicing law in New York and I came home at night and needed some sort of escape," Sawaya said. “I painted or painted or painted professionally and one day I just said, & # 39; How about this toy from my childhood? Can I use it for scanning? & # 39; And I started making the pieces, setting up a small website for the visual gallery, began receiving applications for the commission. I worked full-time at a law firm, came home and was four to six working hours at work. Eventually, I left the law firm to become a full-time painter. ”

The impressive titles "Lego Certified Professional" and "Lego Master Builder" were awarded to him some years later due to his expertise with a Danish company. But to this day, he still buys all of Lego's bricks. "The difference is that I have a strong business relationship with Lego so that I can buy directly from Lego," he said. “I buy hundreds of thousands every month to keep a list. (I have) about a million bricks here and I'm saving 10 million more in a warehouse out of place. ”

But thall Guinness World Records, they are amazing. "The first is a large dinosaur canoe made from a mix of plastic toy bricks, one of them great Lego Batmobile, one is a great Lego superhero show, and the other is a massive Lego brick platform for Central Perk from Friends, ”Explains Sawaya. This also creates the marking of certain records for him, such as the majority of bricks he ever used in one episode (950,000 Friends set), the longest construction time (the whole summer of dinosaurs) and the largest building ever made (the dinosaur was 20 meters long).

Building Batmobiles, popular coffee shops, and dinosaurs it all sounds fun and games. And it is. But Sawaya thinks that time, practice, and interest are also important.

Lego giant that breaks down.
Pictures: Nathan Sawaya

“I think everyone has the capacity (to do this),” he said. "It's time-consuming to do it. Most of this is just a routine, hours and hours. This is my full-time gig. I have these bricks 12 hours a day. And that really helps you find time to test."

"When I talk to young children, they say, & # 39; What should I learn to become a Lego artist? & # 39;" Sawaya continued. "Engineering and math are important, but also art. You have to have this creativity and imagination. And when you combine those two things, both types of brain, you can find and make them happen. ”

There is no doubt that Sawaya's story of being a Lego Master is fantastic. And that's the thing—Story – that he thinks it will be key in Lego Masters. "What you want to see," he said. “You want to see people using things in ways we have never seen before. You want to be able to discuss the story. And that's something that can be really challenging for people. They can build a whale, of course. Here's a whale. This whale does not claim to be alone. Having this story was also important. ”

Lego Masters first on February 5. To find out more about Sawaya, visit his official website.


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