We’ve all seen them — those incredible Lego creations that bring objects and scenes to life in the form of plastic bricks. So how do the Lego masters do it? On Saturday, I headed to the Chinese Room at Seattle’s Smith Tower for a premium Lego event hosted by Verne and Wells, and sat down with an expert who taught me some of his secrets.
Who: Dan Parker
What He Makes: Incredible Lego installations. Some of his most challenging have included a life-size nativity scene and two enormous customized pillars that he built for Google in under six days.
The Project: Lego Pokéball
How He Does It: Building a sphere out of geometric legos can be challenging, but Dan gave me an impressive demo in under five minutes. To build the ball Dan marries art and math by using visualization and calculus principles. He roughly calculates the rate of change for the slope of the curve (the second derivative) and then builds each layer accordingly.
Tip: To speed up the process, build only a quarter of the layer at a time, check your work and then repeat the pattern for the other three quarters. Dan also recommends sketching your work on graph paper first. It may take a little guesswork, but the results are remarkable.
Interesting Fact: Dan spends close to nothing on marketing, but his business has steadily grown 5-12% over the last ten years. It may be because his intricate installations are free press, but Dan says he’s been able to stay successful by diversifying his business with commissions, events, and education.
Where to see his work: See past projects on the TBP Group City Blocks Facebook Page
How to find out more: Contact Dan via this site.
Bonus: Here are some more advanced Lego creations from the event …
Any other Lego builders out there have any tips or photos they’d like to share? We’d love to see them.
Story and photography by Annie Laurie Malarkey. See this site for more of her work. Do you have a cool project or creation you’d like to share with the GeekWire community? Please email annielaurie@geekwire.com about being featured in Geek Made.
