Bangkok landmarks featured at “Emporium & LEGO Bangkok Animation Chapter”
To celebrate Children’s Day 2010, The Emporium Shopping Complex has collaborated with LEGO to host “Emporium & LEGO Bangkok Animation Chapter,” an event which is presenting for the first time, a mock-up of various Bangkok landmarks including the Anantasamakom Throne Hall, the Hua Lamphong Railway Station, the Democracy Monument and other Bangkok landmarks which all together used over a million LEGO bricks. All of these interesting models, activities and workshop can be found until 17 January 2010 at the Fashion Hall, 1st Floor, The Emporium Shopping Complex.
Siriluck Maithai, Deputy Managing Director of The Emporium Shopping Complex said, “We’re pleased to be able to cooperate with DKSH Co., Ltd in organising this event to celebrate Children’s Day. This year The Emporium and LEGO aim to educate youngsters about the major landmarks of Bangkok, each of which has its own architectural features and history. The other landmarks like the skytrain, the mock-up of a city with its infrastructure also reflect the immense development, which Bangkok has undergone over the years. Over the past ten years, the Emporium has focused on organising activities that encourage the development of children and this year we hope also to be able to trigger their creativity as they enjoy the fun and learning aspects of this special day."
Sucheep Sriphrudtha, General Manager – Sales of DKSH Company Limited and distributor of LEGO said, “LEGO realizes the importance of education and creativity for the youngsters who will be the future of the nation. With this in mind, we have taken the opportunity of Children’s Day to use LEGO as a fun learning experience for youngsters while enabling them to use their imagination and creative talents as well. This is the fourth successive year for LEGO to join with The Emporium to host the LEGO activities and workshop. And this year, with “Emporium & LEGO Bangkok Animation Chapter”, LEGO aims to educate youngsters about the significant landmarks of Bangkok in the form of LEGO models. We proudly present the LEGO models of the Anantasamakom Throne Hall, the Hua Lamphong Railway Station, and the Democracy Monument as highlights of the event, which have been created by leading Thai model builders who have used advanced techniques and special imported LEGO pieces to create the unique shapes of each landmark. These three landmarks alone required the use of more than a million LEGO bricks in its construction. The event also includes edutainment activities and workshops for children by the LEGO ambassador of Thailand, also the founder of Thai LEGO User Group (T-LUG). We hope to inspire the children’s imagination and encourage them to use their leisure time on productive activities.”
The T-LUG are also exhibiting their prized models as well as having created several other LEGO models of various city structures like an airport, a museum, a sea port, roads, bridges, houses and many others to represent Bangkok and its main landmarks. Other major Bangkok structures include the sky train or Bangkok Mass Transit System (BTS) with a ‘moving’ LEGO train and the Ratchaprasong Intersection.
The opening ceremony was presided over by Taya Teepsuwan, Deputy Governor of Bangkok as well as the management representatives of The Emporium and DKSH Company Limited, where many celebrities were seen along with their families taking part in the activities. The children from the ‘Ban Kru Noi’ had their equal share of participation in trying their hands at building the LEGO blocks, which certainly turned out to be a fun learning opportunity for them. The event was declared officially open when the key card was inserted in the slot and the LEGO skytrain began to run on its track. The opening event included the exhibition of the impressive LEGO Bangkok landmarks, several edutainment activities, a free style LEGO building contest joined by celebrity families and a high-speed LEGO model building challenge by 2 LEGO contest champions of Thailand. The LEGO workshop and activities were led by front line LEGO model builders and the LEGO ‘Fan Phan Thae’ of 2008 who, with their LEGO building skills and techniques helped create a truly memorable experience for the children in building the LEGO blocks.
The LEGO ambassador of Thailand who is also the founder of the Thai LEGO User Group (T-LUG), Dr Pijarn Charoensri was invited by the MC to share his thoughts about building the Hua Lamphong Railway Station. He said that he was inspired by his love for trains and the challenge was in creating the dome-shaped roof, a symbolic feature of Hua Lumphong, as LEGO bricks are basically rectangular in shape. The entire model required more than 100,000 pieces of LEGO bricks to complete. The winners ‘Fan Phan Thae’ of 2008 also shared their experiences about the other two LEGO models including the Democracy Monument and the Anantasamakom Throne Hall which they created. Panya Parinyanont, the winner of ‘LEGO Fan Phan Thae 2008’ created the Democracy Monument because it has great significance to Thailand's history and he wanted to inspire young LEGO fans in creating a challenging piece. He said that the challenge of this model lay in creating the circular base of the monument which had to be absolutely accurate to support the entire structure. The Democracy Monument model required around 30,000 LEGO bricks and more than two months to complete. The Anantasamakom Throne Hall was created by Pongsit Rattanakonvit, another ‘Fan Phan Thae’ of 2008 and a talented LEGO model builder. He said that the most challenging part of making this architectural splendour was in getting the scale of his model correct and the structural details that make this structure what it is. The result of his effort is an outstanding model that includes much of the intricate detail found in the Throne Hall. The model is two metres wide and required approximately 50,000 LEGO bricks and three months to create.
The presentation of the highlights was followed by a challenge show, a high-speed building of LEGO model OF Tuk-Tuk by a recent winner of LEGO contest in Thailand. That was proceeded y many activities and workshops which was joined by celebrities and their children like Dr Cathleen Maleenont Kij-Othan and Nanont Kij-Othan; Kanyarat and her son Naphat Pladisai; Varawut, Suwanna and their daughter Teekaree Silpa-archa; Apipawadee, Preangrampai and Pinpairoh Kruesopon; Christina with her daughter Tina Settabutr.
Children are invited to witness the LEGO Bangkok landmark creations as well as take part in the edutainment workshop during the LEGO event. Also on offer is a limited amount of new LEGO collection, the “Emerald Night and Fire Brigade” exclusively brought in only for this event taking place from 07 – 17 January 2010 at the Fashion Hall, 1st Floor, The Emporium Shopping Complex.
