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@minibrickarchitecture<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\nBuilding Lego models is an activity which has seen people of all ages contently spend hour upon hour for decades.<\/p>\n But when one man from Cardiff combined his love for Lego with his interests in architecture and even sport, he was taken aback to be met with widespread interest in his hobby.<\/p>\n The self-dubbed \u201cLego Banksy\u201d has recreated iconic buildings and structures across Wales and beyond, including Tenby lifeboat station, Penarth pier and Cardiff City Stadium, posting them to social media.<\/p>\n \u201cLego makes people smile and the great thing about Lego is it appeals to 80-year-olds as much as it appeals to six-year-olds,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n \u201cLots of people build Lego. When I played with Lego when I was a child, it was \u2018I have a whole load of Lego, what can I build out of it?\u2019<\/p>\n \u201cBut Lego has increasingly become instruction-based, and you can make some incredible things. What I enjoy doing and seem, for some reason, to have an eye for, is recreating in Lego what people see in the street.\u201d<\/p>\n The 55-year-old, who posts images of his creations on his social media pages alongside the real places that inspired them, says he mostly chooses not to reveal his identity because he wants the focus to be on the work.<\/p>\n But, in an interview with BBC Wales, he admitted he liked the nickname \u201cLego Banksy\u201d, coined by one of the few friends who knows what he does.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s not for any great mystery bit. I\u2019m just me, I\u2019m nothing for anybody to get excited about,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n \u201cBut hopefully what I\u2019m building does make people excited.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n The Lego models started drawing attention \u201cin deepest, darkest lockdown\u201d, kicking off with one of Penarth Pier which was circulated on various social media pages and generated \u201cpositive commentary\u201d.<\/p>\n \u201cThat was the first one that went public. The first one was all multi-coloured and it was pretty amateur compared to what has been produced since,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n \u201cI suppose I then had a bit more confidence.\u201d<\/p>\n He went on to model the Tenby lifeboat station, in Pembrokeshire, which had \u201cincredible traction\u201d, and began looking further afield, inspired by his love for Arsenal football team.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019ve done quite a bit relating to Arsenal\u2019s old ground, Highbury,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n \u201cOne of the great things about Lego is having the ability to create something that is no longer there.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n A number of different factors go into picking the perfect subject, he said – most importantly, making sure you like it.<\/p>\n \u201cYou\u2019ll spend a lot of time doing it and it\u2019s very difficult to keep momentum going on something you don\u2019t really like.<\/p>\n \u201cThey\u2019ve also got to be able to replicate in Lego, with window sizes and scale and things. Some things you just couldn\u2019t replicate in Lego, or you\u2019d do a poor service to them. Other buildings you just look at and think \u2018that\u2019s made to be built in Lego\u2019.\u201d<\/p>\n The models can be \u201chugely time-consuming\u201d, but exactly how long each one takes varies drastically.<\/p>\n \u201cIt can literally take anything from one evening to three months,” he added.<\/p>\n “If it\u2019s a small model and you\u2019ve got all the parts available, that\u2019s great. But that very seldom happens. I\u2019m normally ordering parts in, sometimes from three or four different suppliers.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n And storing them is another consideration, with Lego Banksy having to become comfortable with allowing old models to have a new lease of life.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m very lucky that I\u2019ve got room for them and I\u2019ve got a wife who doesn\u2019t mind them being around,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n \u201cBut ultimately Lego either needs to be displayed or destroyed. In a world where recycling is really important, one of the great things about Lego is it can be repurposed and ultimately built into something else. Whether that\u2019s after three weeks or three years, that\u2019s another question.<\/p>\n \u201cYou do get attached to it when you\u2019ve done it, but obviously if you\u2019ve got a good photograph of it, it\u2019s a little bit like you have a lovely time when you go on holiday but realise you can\u2019t stay there forever.\u201d<\/p>\n The most rewarding models are often those that have been commissioned by other people, he said.<\/p>\n \u201cWhen people send me pictures of what I\u2019ve built for them on display in their house, that\u2019s way better than me having it on display in my house. That\u2019s brilliant, that’s fantastic.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Looking to the future, the Lego architect is excited to take on new commissions with one of his most ambitious projects to date – a 6ft-long model – still under wraps but set to be unveiled later this year.<\/p>\n \u201cI recently completed, by some distance the largest model I\u2019ve built. It\u2019s by far the most exciting thing I\u2019ve done. It\u2019s a beast.\u201d<\/p>\n He\u2019s also saving his one hundredth Instagram post for \u201csomething significant\u201d, and is keen to try building things from other parts of Wales, such as the coloured houses of west Wales\u2019 villages.<\/p>\n \u201cThere\u2019s lots I haven’t tried yet, but what next? That\u2019s a really good question. I\u2019ve barely scratched the surface really.<\/p>\n \u201cI know that there\u2019s still so much to do.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n![](\"https:\/\/www.bbc.com\/bbcx\/grey-placeholder.png\")
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