Dallas Architect Blane Ladymon Brings LEGO Exhibit to Architecture And Design Exchange

Parents, there’s no need to be alarmed if your child loves nothing more than playing with LEGOs and Tinker Toys. He or she might just become a renowned architect one day. 

American Institute of Architects powerhouse Blane Ladymon’s “Building Toys & Toy Buildings: Brickitecture” is on display at the Architecture and Design Exchange through Feb. 11. 

Ladymon said last week in an interview with CandysDirt.com that the exhibition explores some of the most famous architectural icons built on a micro-scale using the toy building brick. 

“I started building with LEGOs when I was a kid and that’s what got me into architecture,” he said. “I built my own little cities out of LEGOs.” 

The architect plans to take the hobby he built a career on and share it with local children and their parents at the Brickitecture Family Day, scheduled from 10 a.m. to noon Saturday, Jan. 21. Tickets are $30 for a building kit and instruction manual, and doughnuts and coffee will be served. 

Ladymon will offer a brief talk on Greek architecture, and families get to design the Parthenon, a former temple dedicated to the goddess Athena. 

Working with LEGOs engages a creative part of the brain that isn’t triggered when playing video games or even building architectural models with a computer program, Ladymon explained. 

“Using your hands to actually make something is a rarity in today’s society,” he said. “I personally find it more satisfying to build models than to draw and sketch. I get to visualize it a lot easier when I can see it in 3D. You get to see the proportions and the shapes. It’s not just architecture; it also teaches you the basics of engineering.” 

The Building Blocks of Connection

The exhibit came about three years ago during the COVID-19 pandemic when Katie Hitt, AD | EX managing director, heard about Ladymon’s LEGO collection. 

“When COVID struck, Katie had to shut down all the exhibits because nobody was allowed to come in,” Ladymon said. “She was thinking if we put the LEGO models in the window, that would attract some people. She was really surprised. She got a lot of traffic.”

The event has grown and this is the third year LEGOs have been showcased. 

While the exhibit involves children’s toys, it’s not just for kids and their parents. There’s an Adult Fans of LEGOs movement. It’s called AFOL, and it’s a thing, Ladymon said. 

“This is not just a thing; it’s an international phenomenon,” he said. “You will be amazed. There are conventions throughout the world. You will find hundreds of thousands of videos on YouTube.”   

Ladymon says his personal LEGO collection pales in comparison to some AFOLs, but he does have quite a few. 

“I tell my wife it could be worse,” he said. “I could have a hobby of collecting expensive cars or motorcycles. The exhibit itself probably has 70,000 to 80,000 pieces. I’ve probably got about 150-plus sets. We’ve got 15 city skylines and I’ve got four more coming in. The new Eiffel Tower came in and that’s 10,000 pieces alone.” 

LEGO Lab

The LEGO exhibit is one of the most popular events at the AD | EX studios, and it’s also an opportunity to educate the public on the work done inside the offices at 325 North St. Paul St. in downtown Dallas. 

AD | EX is the public outreach arm of the AIA, offering summer camps and youth scholarships. AIA is perhaps best known for its annual home tour. 

“They work together, but you don’t have to be an architect to be a member of the AD | EX,” Ladymon said.

For those who can’t make it to Family Day, there’s a LEGO lab where kids can just pop in and build a treehouse, a skyscraper, a spaceship, or whatever they can dream up.

“We have all these creations that kids have created over the past year,” Ladymon said. “People walk by and see them in the window, and we invite them to come in and create. I was down there on Friday and there was a guy my age, in his 50s, just looking around. People don’t walk in off the street to look at the Charles Dilbeck exhibit. The LEGOs bring a lot of people into the space and expose them to AD | EX and what it does.” 

Users are invited to share their LEGO Lab creations on social media with the hashtag #ADEXlego and leave the structure as part of the visitor gallery.