Discovery Place Science in Charlotte, NC is building up to a summer of innovation when 20 of the world’s most astonishing skyscrapers – from the Empire State Building in New York to China’s Shanghai Tower– move into the Museum, or at least scale models of them.
Towers of Tomorrow with LEGO® Bricks, a traveling exhibition from Sydney Living Museums in Australia and toured internationally by Flying Fish, officially arrived June 1 in Uptown Charlotte. Constructed with breathtaking architectural detail and accuracy by Ryan “The Brickman” McNaught, one of just 14 certified LEGO professionals in the world, the towers are built out of LEGO bricks on a scale of 1:200, offering birds-eye views of these extraordinary buildings that are just as impressive in model size.
Other towers featured in the exhibition include the CN Tower in Toronto, the Chrysler Building in New York, Atlanta’s Bank of America Plaza, Taipei 101 in Taiwan, Japan’s Tokyo Skytree, Kuala Lumpur’s twin Petronas Towers, Singapore’s Marina By Sands, and the Infinity Tower and Barangaroo Crown Hotel Resort in Australia.
“Creating two- to four-meter high versions of these iconic buildings was an incredible challenge, pushing the almost limitless possibilities of LEGO,” McNaught said. “The results should amaze and inspire visitors of all ages.” Adults and children alike will be captivated by the stunning models and might even find themselves asking, “Is that really made of LEGO bricks?” The answer is yes. In fact, it took more than half a million LEGO bricks (and more than 2,400 hours) to build the Towers of Tomorrow exhibition.
In addition to admiring the skyscrapers, visitors will have the opportunity to build their own towers of tomorrow from over 200,000 loose LEGO bricks located in hands-on construction areas of the exhibition. “We want visitors to see these amazing towers and be inspired by the craftsmanship of each model as well as the building itself,” said Catherine Wilson Horne, Discovery Place president and CEO. “This is a chance for them to create their own vision of the future and gain a better understanding of how we can build that future together.” To further engage visitors in the creativity and complexity of engineering, Discovery Place Science will offer a full schedule of events and activities.
Demonstrations and activities will be available throughout the Museum and will vary by day.
Highlights include:
- Earthquake Innovation – Experiment with our tuned mass damper to discover ways to stop your building from shaking during an earthquake.
- The Strength of Shapes – Find out why certain shapes are used more often in building as you test the strength and stability of different shapes.
- Bones of Buildings – Construct a house and learn about the skeleton that holds it up. Take what you learn and search for those “bones” throughout the Museum and your own homes.
- Indigenous Design – Match traditional Native American homes with the habitat or part of the country where that type of home was most common.
Visitors can also enjoy full days of special activities during the exhibitions Special events include:
- Demolition Day Saturday, August 31 What goes up must come down! Take part in activities such as Catapult Destruction, Build It Blocks Knockdown, Dynamite and Explosives and a Wrecking Ball Demolition with a bowling ball pendulum.
Towers of Tomorrow will be on exhibition from now through Sept. 2. Ticket prices and packages to Towers of Tomorrow are available now and advance sales are highly recommended. Reserve your spot in advance at science.discoveryplace.org, via phone at 704.372.6261 or in person at Admissions. For more information, visit discoveryplacescience.org.
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