Cornell University Johnson Museum Kit

The idea began with a visit to another museum. After seeing our Everson Museum kit, staff at Cornell University’s Herbert F. Johnson Museum of Art contacted us about creating their own building in bricks. Their brief centered on access: a model that local libraries could lend for people to build at home, with donor gifts also under consideration.

We translated the museum’s distinctive architecture into a construction model using original LEGO® bricks. Preserving the large cantilever mattered because it is central to how the building is recognized. We also kept the rhythm of the windows and the relationship between the main building, its extension and the garden, so the model would convey the place as a whole.

That approach gives the project a natural connection to the museum’s educational role. Building it offers a way to pay attention to the architecture, from the open space beneath the upper galleries to the smaller structures around it. The result is an architectural kit shaped around the idea of sharing a campus landmark beyond the museum’s walls.