ABC News(WASHINGTON) — Oh, say can you see … a giant American flag made from LEGOs?
It’s the largest of its kind, constructed from over 100,000 LEGO bricks.
Earlier this week in Washington, D.C., children and their families lined up to help build the flag at the National Museum of American History. The Smithsonian Institution, which includes the museum, and LEGO partnered to set a record ahead of Independence Day.
The thousands of bricks were stacked together to build the giant stars and stripes. The father-son team of Dan and Chris Steininger, who are LEGO “master builders,” designed the flag back at LEGO headquarters.
“This is massive but it’s a pretty simple pattern to follow,” Dan Steininger said. They brought their plan to life with the help of kids who put together bricks that were used for the final product.
A total of six master builder teams travel around the world to put together projects for LEGO. Dan and Chris are the only father-son duo. Dan said he began to build LEGO projects when he would bring home LEGOs for his son for the holidays. He has a background in sculpting and said he realized “what a sweet medium LEGOs are.” This hobby morphed into a 26-year career that he now shares with his son.
The record-breaking flag project was also meant to highlight the opening of the museum’s new innovation wing, a 45,000-square-foot interactive learning space. The wing features exhibitions on the history of American business, “hot spots” of invention and the National Numismatics Collection — a showcase of coins and currency.
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