Lyfta storyworld: Building Imagination - China

Building Imagination - Lyfta storyworld trailer

To infinity and beyond

We meet Wei Wei, a LEGO Certified Professional (LCP) in the middle of designing a new project. In a 360° scene we see her surrounded by hundreds of brightly coloured LEGO bricks and builds in her office. Wei Wei is passionate about building LEGO and a concept called ‘playable design’. This approach, she explains, is unique in that there is no end result in mind, rather it develops during the process of play.

This is made to be even more exciting as Wei Wei explains the design combinations with LEGO are essentially infinite. Two 2x4 LEGO bricks can make 24 combinations, six make 915,103,765 and the number of combinations for seven bricks approaches infinity.

"So you can imagine, all people who play with LEGO actually encounter infinity."

WEI WEI

IN BUILDING IMAGINATION - CHINA

Lego Collection

Brick by brick

Wei Wei is the only woman in a group of 20 LEGO Certified Professionals (LCPs), who have been hand-picked by LEGO for their creative use of LEGO. However, Wei Wei doesn’t actually build like the other LCPs, rather she organises group builds via an incubator, ‘Playable Design’.

Wei Wei hosts ‘Brick by Brick’ an educational, art event in which the public builds with LEGO as a collective. For her latest event, the group built a 19x19 metres mandala; a circular design made up of geometric shapes and patterns. A mandala is a sacred symbol used in Hindu and Buddhist cultures. This was the group’s largest build which required a staggering 1.8 tonnes of LEGO bricks - roughly the weight of a baby elephant!

"That’s how I play. Thousands of creative minds coming together."

WEI WEI

IN BUILDING IMAGINATION - CHINA

Studio Full of Lego

Flow

Students will see the hall buzzing with kids and adults alike busily building the colourful mandala. Wei Wei explains that her approach is largely influenced by her own children and kids in general who creatively push the boundaries and experiment during play.

Children tend to play by their own rules, making it up as they go along, a process that Wei Wei refers to as subconscious flow. She believes that creativity in play is born out of what adults may interpret as chaos.

"That is where I get my play, is to experience this kind of power of creative birth."

WEI WEI

IN BUILDING IMAGINATION - CHINA

Wei Wei with a Lego dog

Building Imagination - at a glance

A powerful short documentary film introducing Wei Wei, one of only 20 LEGO Certified Professionals in the world, passionate about building and creating with LEGO.
Three interactive 360° spaces exploring the city of Shanghai and Wei Wei at work on her LEGO designs.

Rich media articles covering:

Magical mandalas
Concept of infinity
City of design: Shanghai

Lesson and assembly plans to be included with this storyworld: