BRICKstorians!

We all know LEGO as an artistic, architectural and even a therapeutic medium. But these guys are using it to explore history, and make it more accessible to the general public.  Kevin J. Walter and Oliver Isensee are in a history Masters degree program at the University of Freiburg.  They've taken it upon themselves to create an exhibition of ancient Roman life at the Museum 'Villa Urbana' in Heitersheim, Germania, er, Germany.  Of course everybody is familiar with LEGO, young and old alike, and that makes it the perfect vehicle not only for display, but for interactive features as well.  That means history is no longer a static 'please do not touch' concept, it's a recreation of ancient Roman life from the scaled-down perspective of a minifigure.  Everybody can relate to that! 

That's the concept behind Public BRICKstory.  Approximately 20 years ago, an actual Roman Villa was unearthed in Heitersheim.  In my research, it was difficult to find information on the archaeological site in English.  Luckily, I know a little German.  Kevin, you may recall, was also in charge of the VLUG rendition of Homer's Odyssey at Brickworld 2014.  Although not as historically accurate as this project, with three headed dogs, Cyclopses, and the like, it was certainly an attempt to bring the past alive for the audience. 

According to the builders, "A model of the villa will be built using LEGO with the intent of depicting the villa’s main building along with the pavilion and bath house. The interior of the villa shall also be decorated and visible. The model will be accessible to visitors and designed in a way as to be playable for children. The model will cover a total area of 1.60 by 1.60m."  It should be interesting to see what happens with an interactive LEGO display.  Hopefully kids in Germany are better behaved than their American counterparts.  Then again, that's what's so great about LEGO, you can just rebuild it, right?!?

The display debuts April, 2017 and runs through October of 2018.  So if you're in the neighborhood, check it out!  I wonder if Kevin or Oliver like movies about gladiators..?