Italian monuments...in LEGOs
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Luca Petraglia often refers to his custom-designed LEGO models as “miniature emotions.” For years, the Italian artist has recreated some of his country’s most renowned architectural marvels, alongside what he calls “overlooked gems,” but it was only during his first few exhibitions that he registered their emotional valence.
“People would stop, share personal memories, and even get emotional while looking at the sculptures,” Petraglia tells My Modern Met. “That’s when I realized I was creating more than just LEGO models.”
It’s certainly difficult to encounter Petraglia’s sculptures without being moved. They’re immersive, startlingly detailed, and encompass thousands of LEGO bricks, all in service of evoking the “true beauty” of any given monument. On his popular Instagram page, he’s reimagined such buildings as the Palazzo Maffei in Verona, complete with LED lights lining its ornate arches and railing; the Leaning Tower of Pisa, composed of over 40,000 LEGO pieces and standing at a height of nearly 6 feet; and Cornaro’s Chapel in Rome, featuring a clever reproduction of its central sculpture.
“The more a monument moves me and evokes emotions, the more I feel compelled to recreate it in LEGO,” Petraglia explains. “I don’t follow trends or specific requests, but only what truly captures my attention.”
