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The 75th anniversary in 2007 of the opening of the Sydney Harbour Bridge is the inspiration for Bridging Sydney, a major exhibition at the Museum of Sydney.
The Beginnings
In November 2000, I started work on a LEGO version of the well known Sydney landmark. I didn't even know at the time whether it would be possible, but after 14 months of building a bit, working out what parts I needed next, ordering them, waiting for them to arrive, adding them (repeat several times), I ended up with a 4 metre long monstrosity which looked pretty much like I wanted.
The original bridge
I showed a few friends, and displayed it at a LEGO store, but mostly it just sat in pieces in my spare room. So after a few months, I finally decided I needed the parts, and started disassembling it. Luckily, I decided at that point to document it's design, using the LDraw suite of tools.
The Request
In May 2004, I was contacted by Kieran Larkin from the Historic Houses Trust of NSW, asking if I would like to participate in an exhibition they were designing to commemorate the 75th anniversary of the opening of the bridge. Because the model had already been dismantled, I had to decline the initial request.
But they were persistent, and were able to secure help through LEGO Australia, in the form of providing bricks for the project, so after a bit of to-and-froing, I agreed to re-build it specially for the exhibition.
The Planning
As I mentioned above, I had documented the bridge design, but the required bricks to be supplied by LEGO Australia had to be listed in a manner suitable for them to order from Denmark. And on top of that, I decided to do basic renditions of each foreshore specially for the exhibition, which had to be added to the list.
So, using the multitude of tools available, I managed to convert my LDraw files to Excel spreadsheets, and with the help of gurus at LEGO Australia, they were converted into parts lists, and an order sent off to Denmark.
While that was happening, I was negotiating with the HHT staff as to how it was all going to work, and we decided the best way would be for me to go to Sydney, and build the bridge on-site at the Museum. This would save having to transport completed sections of the bridge, and would also allow me to interact with museum visitors, answering questions as I built.
I estimated I could complete the building in 3 or 4 days working without interruption, so it was agreed I would go to Sydney for 2 weeks, giving me ample time to complete the build and chat with visitors. The final dates chosen were 14th-27th January 2007 - being school holidays this would give me a chance to answer barrages of questions multitudes of screaming kids.
The Building
So I finally arrive in Sydney on the 14th. There's even a car waiting at the airport to pick me up! (Thanks Carmel!) I'm taken to my Sydney accommodation which happens to be none other than the butler's flat at Government House! This is because Govt. House is managed by the HHT, and it's easier (and cheaper) for them to put me up there than a hotel. I sure wasn't going to complain - 5 minutes walk to Circular Quay and a view like this.
View from the butler's flat
So the next day I rock up to the museum, and start to get a feel for the task ahead. The bridge will be constructed in the "viewing cube", a room constructed for visitors to view what remains of the original Government House, which was on the site of the museum until it was demolished in 1846. The viewing cube is basically a 5 metre glass box built into the 3rd floor of the museum.
The viewing cube
So after we work out how it's all going to be arranged, I go looking for the LEGO bricks. Oh no! Only half the order has arrived! Oh well, better than nothing, I start unpacking and counting all the bags. Couple of errors in the order, wrong parts sent, so I get straight onto Anna at LEGO Australia, and while she works on fixing that, I start building the arch. It's fairly tedious work - I decide to build all the separate beams first, and put them all together at the end.
Starting to build
I start with the main arch support beams, and one by one work my way through all the main chord beams, vertical braces, diagonal braces, horizontal braces ...... and while I'm doing all that, I'm already starting to field lots of questions, and stories of things the kids have built, etc, etc. So the breaks help to make it a little more interesting.
Most of the arch beams done
Then I get to the deck hangers and deck sections, and when I finish those I suddenly realise it's Thursday already, and the rest of the bricks haven't arrived yet! So I call up Anna again, only to find out it was held up because they can't supply the blue baseplates (they don't make them any more), so the order has shipped without them. Uh oh. But thanks to Richie, our own LEGO ambassador, I'm able to get enough blue baseplates to complete the project, and so I went back to building.
Hangers and deck sections complete
Friday I started putting the arches together in 2 sections, and the baseboard arrived so I started placing the baseplates, ready for when the rest of the bricks arrived. So by the end of the first week, I had 2 half-arches finished, and a display pedestal ready to go.
Pedestal and base with arch halves complete
Saturday I got together with a bunch of STUDS. Or SLUGS. Or something. Anyway we had a BBQ, talked about LEGO stuff, and admired Richie's LEGO ambassador t-shirt. Sunday I spent doing touristy stuff in Sydney, including a tour of Government House.
Arrived at the museum Monday, and woohoo! the rest of the bricks were there waiting! So I check the contents, and everything is there (except some of the green bricks which had to be substituted for combinations as they aren't available). So I get right on with building the foreshore sections, complete with roads, paths, wall and trees.
Foreshore sections complete, started on north pylon
Once the foreshore sections are complete I start on the support hinges and pylons. I build the pylons up to road level, and by that time it's Wednesday, and I figure I should start to make it look a little like a bridge, so I get one of the museum guys to help me erect the arch. It all goes great, and we finally have something that the visitors can recognise!
Getting there
I spend Thursday lazily completing the pylons, and adding hangers and deck sections, to finally complete the construction late Thursday afternoon. Carmel also took photos in front of the bridge of some of the creations created by kids in the LEGO workshop downstairs, before dismantling them. After adding paper flags, the bridge is complete, and ready for the Australia Day crowds.
Only a few finishing touches required
The Crowds
On Australia Day, people flock to the city for celebrations, and the Museum of Sydney has free admission all day. This means the usual few hundred visitors per day swells to 5000 or more. So they told me to be prepared. Luckily I was, and the day was surprisingly fun. I'm not sure how many visitors the museum had, but it was packed pretty much all day.
The Helpers
There were many people that helped a lot with this project, and I'd just like to thank a few of them: The HHT and museum team; especially Carmel, Kieran, Tim, Annie, Toshie etc. Anna from LEGO Australia, the Sydney LEGO club guys especially Richie & Steve, and everyone else I forgot.
Some of the Mueum team
The Future
I really enjoyed the whole experience - not having done anything like that before it was very different for me. I think I would probably do it again.
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The bridge will remain at the museum for the duration of the "Bridging Sydney" exhibition, which closes on 29th April 2007. Whether it remains where it is in the viewing cube, or is moved elsewhere hasn't been decided yet. After the exhibition closes, the bridge will be returned to LEGO Australia, where it may be displayed along with their model of the Sydney Opera House. |
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