For Lego fans who’ve seen the movies and the Masters TV series and still want more, Scienceworks’ new exhibit, Brickman Cities, capitalises on this perennial favourite by showcasing some buildings and landscapes based on a number of famous cities (New York, Sydney, Toyko, Dubai, London).

When: Until 4 August, 10am – 4pm

Where: Scienceworks, 2 Booker Street SPOTSWOOD

Cost: from $12 (children 3 and under FREE), for more details visit the website.

Many thanks to contributor Thuy On for attending on behalf of Meetoo and sharing her review.

The scale models are scattered about the fairly small space and attached to each country’s iconic scenes (eg Tokyo’s Shibuya Crossing) are a work station with thousands of loose Lego, ready for play. This is the interactive element that encourages visitors to sit and build whatever pleases them, perhaps inspired by the visionary cities that loom up or are spread out. Indeed, there are hints written up as an activity guide eg, “Build what you think Tokyo will look like in 50 years. Robot garbarge trucks? Floating Houses? Teleport Pods?

Despite these prompts, there is a lack of signage or any other information available, so while the Lego displays are impressive enough in their minute detailing and construction, (young) visitors won’t be learning much about the countries chosen. The one exception is New York, which is centrally placed, with an audio track and a video projection that takes us back in time to the city’s earliest incarnation.

Brickman Cities is distracting enough for a rainy afternoon activity for the preschooler-early primary school set, but for older kids it fails to offer much in terms of mental engagement.