A 10-year-old boy from Iceland who has autism built an astounding replica of the Titanic out of Legos, and now that model has found a home in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee at the Titanic Museum Attraction until 2020.
Brynjar Karl Birgisson, now 15, created the 5-foot-high, 4-foot-wide Titanic model using 56,000 Legos, according to Knox News . Birgisson developed an obsession with the ill-fated ship, and he spent 11 months building the giant replica. His grandpa, who initially thought the massive scale of the project would put his grandson off making it, helped him. The duo even borrowed a storage room in order to have space to construct the massive project. Ultimately, they spent at least 700 hours recreating the beloved ship.
The Internet named Birgisson “the Lego boy” and his impressive creation, which cost nearly $8,105 in U.S. currency to build, toured around the world with stops in Norway, Sweden, Germany, and Iceland.
Even more astonishing, the interior of the Lego Titanic features lights, and 200 passengers reside on its decks. Alongside the replica, the museum runs a five-minute video highlighting the tragic story of the ship’s collision with the iceberg, complete with black and white photos of passengers on the wall behind it. According to the museum, Birgisson’s model is the largest Lego replica of the ship in existence.
56,000 Legos. 11 months. 10 years old. https://t.co/ynGnp0RM9h
— CNN (@CNN) April 16, 2018
Due to its massive size, Birgisson had no place to keep it, so he felt he would need to destroy his amazing Lego creation. However, the museum came to the rescue after learning of the model’s potential fate because of a letter Birgisson’s mom, Bjarney Ludviksdottir, wrote. Today, Birgisson, his mother, and his grandfather, Ludvik Ogmundsson, visited the museum to see their creation’s new home. The boy felt that his Lego ship belongs in the attraction devoted to the Titanic.
Birgisson credits the project with helping him move out of an “Autistic fog.” He said that setting the goal and working so hard to complete it changed his life for good. Because of all the positive publicity, he feels more comfortable in public and less shy than he did before.
The Titanic, billed as unsinkable, sank early on the morning of April 15, 1912. At least 1,517 people perished in the Atlantic Ocean when the ship collided with an iceberg during its maiden voyage between England and the United States. Part of the reason for such a massive loss of life is because the ship’s creators equipped it with too few lifeboats.