Ryan McNaught with King Kong on the Empire State Building.
Camera IconRyan McNaught with King Kong on the Empire State Building. Credit: Supplied/Supplied

Brickman Ryan McNaught bringing “education by stealth” to Perth with Wonders of the World Lego exhibition

Tanya MacNaughtonEastern Reporter

THERE can not be many responses quite like the one Lego certified professional Brickman Ryan McNaught gives when asked what’s been keeping him busy today.

“Today I’ve been working on a four-metre high version of the world’s tallest building, Burj Khalifa in Dubai,” McNaught said from Melbourne.

McNaught will return to Perth this month with exhibition Brickman Wonders of the World at Perth Convention and Exhibition Centre from June 22 to July 30 after last year’s inaugural Perth visit.

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“Last year was huge and crazy and I don’t know if I should give credit to the people of Perth but when I was talking to them, they gave me lots of suggestions of things I needed to make and bring over next time,” McNaught said.

Brickman Wonders of the World incorporates more than 50 models of ancient, modern and natural wonders, plus even more interactive elements.

“What we learnt after heading to Perth last year was to add a different interactive element to it,” he said.

“I’ve built the Arc de Triomphe which is an awesome building, but what people do is get to build the traffic jam that goes around it.

“We have about six or seven activities like that; we’re challenging people to get creative and build things.”

The father of nine-year-old twin boys said he had coined the phrase “education by stealth” for his exhibition, where children would be educated without necessarily knowing it.

“There’s a whole heap of different challenges around the size and scope of these things,” McNaught said.

“If you look at sheer size, the Titanic model is enormous and the Leaning Tower of Pisa is round, so making something like that out of square bricks and then on a five-degree lean at the same time was difficult.

“Some of the ancient wonders of the world are relatively simple like the pyramids but then the Hanging Gardens of Babylon, where do you find a picture of what the Hanging Gardens of Babylon looked like? Some turned out to be easy and others left us scratching our heads.”

Community Newspaper Group has 10 family passes to give away to Brickman Wonders of the World at Perth Convention and Exhibition Centre. Enter here by 10am, Friday, June 23.

THE ESSENTIALS

What: Brickman Wonders of the World

Where: Perth Convention and Exhibition Centre

When: June 22 to July 30

Tickets: www.ticketek.com.au

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