WASHINGTON — Legos are one of 9-year-old Natalie Hill’s favorite things. She plays with them in her bedroom or “sometimes at the dentist’s office.”
But this week, Natalie, who lives in Washington, D.C., was in her element at the Smithsonian National Museum of American History, helping hundreds of other lovers of the colorful plastic snap-on blocks to build the world’s largest Lego-made American flag.
“My favorite part was learning to put it together,” she said of the portion of the flag she worked on, a white stripe. “Then I was doing it really fast.”
The flag, which measures 9½-by-13 feet, was a collaboration with Lego and the museum to celebrate the grand opening of a new wing dedicated to American innovation.
Lego is a Danish company whose name is a combination of the words “leg godt” — “play well.”
And so they did. Museumgoers of all ages were invited to participate.
Building the flag required much more than just snapping blocks together. The project was carefully orchestrated through months of planning, and several models were built for practice before the moment in the spotlight.
“We actually did multiple prototypes to make sure we got the dimensions of the flag right,” said master builder Chris Steininger. “We’re not just free-handing it.”
The master builders are an elite group. There are just seven in the world, chosen by the company as the most talented and creative Lego architects around. In his years as a master builder, Steininger has used Legos to make a Statue of Liberty more than 20 feet tall and a Star Wars Millennium Falcon ship stretching 18 feet across.
But building the record-breaking flag “ranks pretty high” on his list of projects.
“There’s something special about building the American flag in the capital,” Steineger said.
Also making the project unique was the fact that it was a group experience, with Lego lovers of all skill levels pausing their trip through the museum to snap some blocks onto the flag. For many, it was a family affair.
