“LEGO-Certified Professional” Is A Real Title

…And there are only 14 of them in the world. One of them is Adam Reed Tucker, and at the now-open LEGO exhibit at the Museum of Science and Industry, you can now see what it takes to become one.

Tucker is a former architect who has worked with the design and construction of upscale homes in the Chicagoland area. He has even designed sets and collections for LEGO. But his most magnificent achievements (in my humble opinion) are the structural models now on display at MSI. The opening piece and crown gem of the exhibit is the 64,500-piece model of the Golden Gate Bridge.

Courtesy of Sam Cholke of DNAinfo.com

To create structures so large, Tucker relies on his civil engineering skills. Going far beyond the “instructions” means the weight, strength, and balance of each structure must be accounted for and properly set up. Numerous models of complex and varied buildings can be seen at this exhibit, appropriately demonstrating Tucker’s wide-range of capabilities. He has accumulated hundreds of hours working on each piece, and the precision he consistently achieves is mind-boggling.

Pictures of these models are rare; you’ll have to visit the museum to get a closer look. I’m sure the window display designers at the Michigan Avenue LEGO store are feeling more than a little envious.Grab your little brother and check out this exhibit before its time is up! We’ll have the marvelous view of Tucker’s creations in town until 2017. Where else can you see the Golden Gate Bridge, the St. Louis Arch, and the Hoover Dam all in one room? There’s even a model of MSI as it looked when it was initially built for the Colombian Exposition in 1893.

We’ve all had a childhood made more colorful by the box of LEGO blocks in our closet. Find that inner-child who found her inner-architect and see how this simple toy inspires generations of builders and creators to think “outside the box.”