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Design

LEGO Experts Crafted A Massive Replica Of 'The Grand Budapest Hotel'

50,000 LEGO bricks and 575 hours later, the 7-foot tall replica of Wes Anderson's titular hotel is open for business.

Images courtesy of Dan Steinberg/Invision

Arguably the greatest masterpieces of Wes Anderson's 2014 opus, The Grand Budapest Hotel— beyond the actual masterpiece of the film, Boy With Apple—were the sweeping, commensurate architectural, interior, and production designs that brought the film's titular chalet to life. In fact, perhaps the most major qualm moviegoers had with the film was that they themselves would never have the opportunity to grace the halls, or enjoy the expansive amenities of the Grand Budapest Hotel. Well, for those of you who happen to be two inches tall, square-footed, and made of yellow, Danish plastic, you're in luck:

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Designed by San Diego-based "LEGO Master Model Builder" Ryan Ziegelbauer and his team of eight designers and modelers, this 7' tall, 6.5' wide, 150 pound replica of the Grand Budapest Hotel is not only a testament to Wes Anderson's hyper-nuanced design sensibilities, but to the trans-cultural exchanges to which the film pays homage—the 50,000-plus bricks used to construct the model were internationally-sourced, with some of the bricks coming from all the way from Germany, Lithuania, and Poland. For the building's signature pink façade, Ziegelbauer and team employed the LEGO Digital Designer software to customize the colored bricks.

Said Ziegelbauer, of his finished creation, "I was sitting outside my studio and took some pictures with my camera. I looked at the screen, and I couldn't tell the difference from the actual movie model and the Lego model. It was like, we nailed it." In honor of the film's June 17 Blu-Ray/DVD release, Tony Revolori, one of the film's stars, dropped by Ziegelbauer's studio to pose with the model, and pop a few Legos into place before the structure's shipment to the Los Angeles' Art and Design Museum.

Below, Revolori and Ziegelbauer pose with their incredible LEGO tribute to The Grand Budapest Hotel:

Ryan Ziegelbauer's Lego Grand Budapest Hotel will be on display through the month of August. h/t USAToday, Yahoo! Movies, and SlashFilm

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