Ben Edlavitch was in elementary school when his grandfather, Poppy, got him his first Lego set. Growing up in Richmond, Edlavitch enjoyed plenty of quality time with Poppy, aka David Levine. From the time Edlavitch was old enough to hold a wrench, the two shared countless hours tending to Levine’s 1926 Ford Model A.
That time spent tinkering in Poppy’s garage instilled in them a working rapport that served the duo well when they participated as contestants on the fourth season of “Lego Masters,” a reality competition show on Fox, in the fall of 2023.
David Levine, aka Poppy, and Ben Edlavitch during their time on Fox’s “Lego Masters”
Edlavitch and Levine were among 12 teams chosen from over 2,000 applicants to appear on the show, which is hosted by Lego Batman himself, Will Arnett. Over the course of the show, the teams were tasked with creating original builds for a chance to win $100,000 and the title of Lego Master. To prepare for being on the show, Edlavitch says, “We spent a lot of time together figuring out Lego techniques. … We studied past seasons to see what the judges liked and responded to.”
For Edlavitch, 21, a student at the University of Virginia studying community-focused architecture, Lego bricks build a lifetime of play, an essential aspect of his approach to architecture. “Lego teaches you a very important kind of world perspective, which is that you can take anything apart and put it back together again in a way that makes it better,” he says, “and that, I think, is the kind of perspective that got me into architecture.”
Aside from his builds on “Lego Masters,” which included a hydra attack, an art studio for a kitten named Tiger and an episode-winning volcano with scorpions, Edlavitch says his favorite builds are all architectural in nature. He’s created a model of the Virginia Executive Mansion, which currently sits in the very building it’s based on, as well as a 433-brick model of the Richmond skyline that was raffled off by the local adult Lego enthusiast group RVA LUG (of which Edlavitch is a member) for its annual Brick Day. But, Edlavitch says, his most prized build is of a Richmond city block. The block features a replica of a Nils Westergard mural — a Richmond-centric touch that came to fruition when the artist reached out to Edlavitch asking if he could put a mural on one of his builds.
Edlavitch’s Lego rendition of a block in the Fan features a mini mural from Richmond- and Amsterdam-based artist Nils Westergard.
Some of Edlavitch’s creations will be on display this fall at the Virginia Museum of History & Culture’s Lego-focused exhibition “Traveling Bricks,” which will celebrate Virginia’s status as the only U.S.-based manufacturing site of the Denmark-born brand. (The Chesterfield Lego factory will begin production in 2027.) During the exhibition, which runs from Oct. 19 to Jan. 5, 2025, Edlavitch will offer kids’ workshops that combine Lego and architecture in an approachable way, introducing the field to a new generation through play.
“Play is still a very important part of my life, even though I'm growing up and becoming an adult, and I think it should be an important part of everyone's lives,” Edlavitch says. Play, he notes, allows people to explore ideas freely, without judgment, opening opportunities for creativity and discovery. “There are still lots of ways that I can apply the kind of Lego parts of my personality to architecture, which, on the outside, looks like it takes itself a little bit more seriously, but there’s lots of overlap.”
Edlavitch in 2011
In his spare time, Edlavitch also dabbles in photography, leaning toward landscapes and, unsurprisingly, buildings. There’s an undeniable connection between his work in plastic bricks, in photos and in blueprints. The freedom and creativity of play, he says, allows him to tap into some of his strongest ideas, while his work behind the camera helps him hone his eye for detail. Those details help him tell engaging stories in all three mediums.
Edlavitch says creating a connection between imaginative play and architecture is one way he hopes to help bring the profession into the present day.
“The main issue I see with architecture right now is just that it’s very inaccessible, because most people don’t really think about it very seriously as a career until later high school or college, at which point a lot of these kind of old-fashioned, institutionalized programs are considered a little too late to get started,” he says.
That inaccessibility, Edlavitch says, leads to a less diverse, less creative field. He hopes, through his builds and workshops, to model a different approach. “I bring these workshops to kids to try and connect Lego to architecture and give them that perspective that, just like Lego, you can take anything apart, put it back together and make it a little better.”
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