Mont Saint-Michel

Mont Saint-MichelMont Saint-Michel (here in the Piece of Peace exhibit) is a fortified tidal island just off the coast of France between Brittany and Normandy. It has been the site of a monastery since the eighth century; the abbey on the summit was built between the tenth and sixteenth centuries.

Nikkō Tōshō-gū

Here is the Nikkō Tōshō-gū from the Piece of Peace exhibition. This is a Shinto shrine in Nikkō, Japan, dedicated to Tokugawa Ieyasu, the founder and first shogun of the Tokugawa shogunate, whose remains are entombed there.

Sultan Ahmed Mosque

Here's another creation from the Piece of Peace exhibit, the Sultan Ahmed Mosque from Istanbul, also called the Blue Mosque. The mosque was built between 1609 and 1616 and continues as an active mosque today.

Temple of Heaven

The Temple of Heaven (here from the Piece of Peace exhibit) in Beijing dates back to 1406 (with renovation in the 18th century). Emperors of the Ming and Qing dynasties would give annual sacrifices there for good crops.

Dunhuang Caves

Also known as the Mogao Grottoes, this series of 492 Buddhist temples was carved out of the hills around an oasis along the Silk Road in northwest China. The first caves were carved around 366, and construction continued on the site over a thousand years. Cave 96, called the Nine Storey Building (here from the Piece of Peace exhibition)houses the Northern Giant Buddha, at 35 meters the second largest stone Buddha on Earth (it was fourth largest before the two Bamiyan Buddhas were destroyed in 2001). The statue depicts the Buddha Maitreya, who is foretold to appear at a future point after the teachings of the Buddha have been forgotten and mankind has degraded into lawlessness.

Moai

Continuing our look at the Piece of Peace exhibit, here are the Moai of Easter Island.

Piece of Peace - Stephensdom

I'm glad to see that the Piece of Peace exhibit by Kazuyoshi Naoeis still touring. At least it was last November when CK Tsang saw it in Tokyo. I hope that someday this traveling show makes it across the Pacific so that I can see it, but in the meantime I'll feature a series of the creation here. Let's start with Stephansdom. This beautiful cathedral was built in Vienna between 1137 and 1160, with some rebuilding after damage to the roof at the end of WWII. It is the seat of the archbishop of Vienna and has become a symbol of the city.

Sagrada Familia

I've blogged this before, but today Google is celebrating Antoni Gaudí's 161st birthday, so it seemed appropriate to post the Sagrada Familia from Master Builder Kazuyoshi Naoe's Piece of Peace exhibition.



And from Enigmabadger's 'Travels of Bager', here is, presumably, Bager with the real thing.

Sagrada Família

The Basílica i Temple Expiatori de la Sagrada Família in Barcelona is the masterpiece of the late Antoni Gaudí. This cathedral was started in 1882, but it is still incomplete. It was consecrated by Pope Benedict only a couple of years ago, and is expected to be complete in 2026. When completed, this cathedral will be one of the most unique and most beautiful in the world, with a modern take on Gothic design features. Harald P recently made a LEGO version as part of the recent Architecture contest on Eurobricks.


Lluis Gilbert made another version.


A much larger version was part of the traveling Piece of Peace exhibit of World Heritage Sites.


Here you can see a close-up of the Nativity Facade from the Piece of Peace display.

Angkor Wat

Piece of Peace is a display designed by LEGO Master Builder Kazuyoshi Naoe that recreates a number of UNESCO World Heritage sites in LEGO form. This display has been traveling around Japan (and elsewhere?) for the past several years. A great number of models depict religiously significant sites, and I'm going to try to highlight each of these. Angkor Wat was built as a Hindu temple at the direction of Suryavarman II, king of the Khmer Empire (centered in what is now Cambodia), in the 12th century. The design of the temple was meant to resemble Mount Meru, essentially the Hindu equivalent of Mount Olympus. Two centuries later, a new king, Srindravarman, converted the empire over to his own religion, Buddhism, and the temple was rededicated to this purpose. Today Angkor Wat is still revered by Cambodian Buddhists and has become a symbol of Cambodia. Photo credit goes to Claudia~~~~.



Hinduism Buddhism PieceofPeace Architecture OfficialDisplay