(Above) Buildings from three neighborhoods in downtown Chicago are recreated in miniature from LEGO bricks. Photos obtained from Rocco Buttliere. (Click on images to view larger versions.)
31-May-15 – Rocco Buttliere had six buildings in downtown Chicago constructed last year and he has kept on going in 2015.
Over the past five years, the architecture student at Illinois Institute of Technology has re-built much of the northeast corner of the Loop at 1:650 scale using 62,200 LEGO bricks.
The layout now measures approximately 52 x 43 inches, representing three million square feet and includes more than 30 buildings.
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“What started as a desire to replicate individual skyscrapers,” says Buttliere, “has transitioned to a focus on representing a contiguous urban landscape through LEGO.”
From north of the Chicago River, Marina City, AMA Plaza, Trump International Hotel & Tower, Wrigley Building, Tribune Tower, and 401 North Michigan are built. Buildings south of the river span from 35 East Wacker to Blue Cross Blue Shield Tower.
(Left) Buildings near intersection of Wacker Drive and Wabash Avenue include (left to right) Wyndham Grand Riverfront Hotel, Seventeenth Church of Christ Scientist, Hilton Garden Inn, and 65 East Wacker Place.
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(Right) The LEGO version of Forever Marilyn, a larger-than-life statue of Marilyn Monroe by Seward Johnson that was displayed in Pioneer Court in 2013.
Buttliere estimates he will be working on the project for five more years and it will eventually comprise two to three million pieces.
“I plan on continuing to expand the layout and eventually build the whole downtown area,” says Rocco.
Buttliere says the models will be displayed in Schaumburg June 20-21 at the annual Brickworld Chicago LEGO exposition. On July 18, they will be at IIT’s LEGO City Day.
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