'Lego Banksy' architect recreates Welsh landmarks

Building Lego models is an activity which has seen people of all ages contently spend hour upon hour for decades.

But when one man from Cardiff combined his love for Lego with his interests in architecture and even sport, he was taken aback to be met with widespread interest in his hobby.

The self-dubbed “Lego Banksy” has recreated iconic buildings and structures across Wales and beyond, including Tenby lifeboat station, Penarth pier and Cardiff City Stadium, posting them to social media.

“Lego makes people smile and the great thing about Lego is it appeals to 80-year-olds as much as it appeals to six-year-olds,” he said.

“Lots of people build Lego. When I played with Lego when I was a child, it was ‘I have a whole load of Lego, what can I build out of it?’

“But Lego has increasingly become instruction-based, and you can make some incredible things. What I enjoy doing and seem, for some reason, to have an eye for, is recreating in Lego what people see in the street.”

The 55-year-old, who posts images of his creations on his social media pages alongside the real places that inspired them, says he mostly chooses not to reveal his identity because he wants the focus to be on the work.

But, in an interview with BBC Wales, he admitted he liked the nickname “Lego Banksy”, coined by one of the few friends who knows what he does.

“It’s not for any great mystery bit. I’m just me, I’m nothing for anybody to get excited about,” he said.

“But hopefully what I’m building does make people excited.”

The Lego models started drawing attention “in deepest, darkest lockdown”, kicking off with one of Penarth Pier which was circulated on various social media pages and generated “positive commentary”.

“That was the first one that went public. The first one was all multi-coloured and it was pretty amateur compared to what has been produced since,” he said.

“I suppose I then had a bit more confidence.”

He went on to model the Tenby lifeboat station, in Pembrokeshire, which had “incredible traction”, and began looking further afield, inspired by his love for Arsenal football team.

“I’ve done quite a bit relating to Arsenal’s old ground, Highbury,” he said.

“One of the great things about Lego is having the ability to create something that is no longer there.”

A number of different factors go into picking the perfect subject, he said - most importantly, making sure you like it.

“You’ll spend a lot of time doing it and it’s very difficult to keep momentum going on something you don’t really like.

“They’ve also got to be able to replicate in Lego, with window sizes and scale and things. Some things you just couldn’t replicate in Lego, or you’d do a poor service to them. Other buildings you just look at and think ‘that’s made to be built in Lego’.”

The models can be “hugely time-consuming”, but exactly how long each one takes varies drastically.

“It can literally take anything from one evening to three months," he added.

"If it’s a small model and you’ve got all the parts available, that’s great. But that very seldom happens. I’m normally ordering parts in, sometimes from three or four different suppliers.”

And storing them is another consideration, with Lego Banksy having to become comfortable with allowing old models to have a new lease of life.

“I’m very lucky that I’ve got room for them and I’ve got a wife who doesn’t mind them being around,” he said.

“But ultimately Lego either needs to be displayed or destroyed. In a world where recycling is really important, one of the great things about Lego is it can be repurposed and ultimately built into something else. Whether that’s after three weeks or three years, that’s another question.

“You do get attached to it when you’ve done it, but obviously if you’ve got a good photograph of it, it’s a little bit like you have a lovely time when you go on holiday but realise you can’t stay there forever.”

The most rewarding models are often those that have been commissioned by other people, he said.

“When people send me pictures of what I’ve built for them on display in their house, that’s way better than me having it on display in my house. That’s brilliant, that's fantastic.”

Looking to the future, the Lego architect is excited to take on new commissions with one of his most ambitious projects to date - a 6ft-long model - still under wraps but set to be unveiled later this year.

“I recently completed, by some distance the largest model I’ve built. It’s by far the most exciting thing I’ve done. It’s a beast.”

He’s also saving his one hundredth Instagram post for “something significant”, and is keen to try building things from other parts of Wales, such as the coloured houses of west Wales’ villages.

“There’s lots I haven't tried yet, but what next? That’s a really good question. I’ve barely scratched the surface really.

“I know that there’s still so much to do.”