(Above) Chicago buildings, both real and imagined, built of LEGO bricks by Adam Tucker. Left to right, Chicago Spire, Marina City, 7 South Dearborn, John Hancock Center, Trump International Hotel & Tower, and Willis Tower. (Click on image to view larger version.)

December 29, 2010 – Marina City – the LEGO version – is on display at a museum in Washington, D.C. Along with models of 14 other world-famous buildings, Andrew Tucker’s four-foot Marina City, constructed in 2008 of 12,000 LEGO bricks, is at the National Building Museum through September 5, 2011.

Tucker is an architect from Chicago and one of only eleven LEGO Certified Professionals in the world. His models are the centerpiece of an exhibit called “Towering Ambition.”

The tallest model is the Burj Khalifa – 2,684 feet in Dubai and 17 feet in LEGO bricks. Made of nearly half a million LEGO bricks, it reportedly took Tucker 280 hours to design and 340 hours to build.

“Tucker’s inspired vision and accessible process allows us to slow down and examine the complexities and the beauty of our built environment and its impact on our lives,” said Chase Rynd, executive director of the National Building Museum, which was created by an act of Congress in 1980.