Seventy-six years after J.R.R. Tolkien first began to imagine the Elven outpost of Rivendell forThe Lord of the Rings trilogy, Lego enthusiasts Alice Finch and David Frank decided to build their own version using only toy bricks as their medium.The duo used 200,000 tiny bricks to create a spectacular model of Rivendell, scaled down to fit a kingdom of Elven minifigures.
Image: Flickr, Alice Finch
Frank and Finch told Mashable that they planned to build Rivendell after meeting for the first time at a Seattle Lego users group meeting in 2011.
"It [Rivendell] is just a very enchanting, interesting and challenging thing to build, and so it has been on my list of things to do for three years now," Finch said.
Finch isn't new to the world of large-scale brick building. In 2012, she unveiled the largest Lego Hogwarts replica in the world, made from more than 400,000 bricks.
Frank said Peter Jackson's Lord of the Rings films provided huge inspiration for the project, "as they really fleshed out the architectural details from the books."
Finch researched set designs, behind the scenes footage and designs from Weta Digital, the company that created the special effects for Jackson's films. After The Hobbit premiered in 2012, Frank said Finch incorporated changes to Rivendell into their final design. She also added a river scene late in the process, as well as the Elven exodus to the Grey Havens.
Image: Flickr, Alice Finch
Though the pair's initial planning sessions started early in 2013, Frank said he didn't begin building until July. Finch, however, started earlier in the year to get ahead on her newly added sections. Both were highly dedicated to making their deadline: BrickCon 2013, which took place in early Oct.
"The last three months were extremely intense and both of us would stay up late into the early morning building each night," Frank said. "The last couple weeks leading up to the convention I would be at Alice's house building until 1 to 2 a.m."
See how the team's diligent work paid off below.
