LEGO Releases Guggenheim Museum Set to Celebrate Frank Lloyd Wright's 150th Birthday

Not every architecture buff can follow in the footsteps of Frank Lloyd Wright, but thanks to LEGO, they can now build a small-scale replica of one of his most important public works. As Dezeen reports, the toy brand has released a brand-new set of the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum to celebrate the architect’s 150th birthday on June 8.

The 744-piece collection is part of the company’s LEGO Architecture series, which includes models of famous buildings and landmarks like Buckingham Palace and the Burj Khalifa skyscraper in Dubai.

The set depicts the museum’s dramatically curved façade, along with the 10-story limestone tower that was added to the building in 1992. In front of the museum, mini yellow cabs whiz along a plastic Fifth Avenue.

For the uninitiated, the Guggenheim Museum in New York opened to the public in 1959, just six months after Wright’s death at the age of 91. Critics gave it mixed reviews, with one describing it as “the most beautiful building in America,” and another referring to the structure as “less a museum than it is a monument to Frank Lloyd Wright.” Others likened it to an "inverted oatmeal dish," or a "hot cross bun." Today, the Guggenheim is celebrated as the last major work of Wright's career, and as a pioneering work of modernist architecture.

Technically, this isn’t LEGO’s first Guggenheim set: They released a smaller model of the museum in 2009, but the new one is reportedly more precise. It’s currently available for purchase on LEGO’s website, or from Target. And if you want to celebrate Wright’s legacy in person in New York City, the Guggenheim is hosting a day-long celebration on June 8, complete with a special reduced admission fee of $1.50.

[h/t Dezeen]