One of the most famous buildings in Zagreb, Croatia
About this creation
This is an historic building designed at the end of 19th century by two Viennese architects' - Hellmer and Fellmer. These are the same architects that designed the Croatian National Theater in Zagreb, MOC as presented here by my friend Matija Puzar. It is an odd coincidence, but we met after we decided to make these two models - it wasn't planned that way and we even share the same first name. ;) We hope to see both models on the same exhibition one day.
The building was ceremoniously opened on 15th December 1898. For more information on the building visit its webpage.
I decided to build it out of LEGO bricks during the Summer of 2007. I began to look into it later the same year. First I took some pictures, and got hold of blueprints copies from Zagreb National Archive. I planned it and bought bricks from all around the world for about a year. During the year I bought most of needed bricks, and built the front portal and some variations of walls and roof. From November 2008. 'till now I've built it more intensively and now finally finished it. Altogether several hundred hours of work have gone into it.

The building is around 150 cm (60 inch) long, 85 cm (33 inch) wide and 90 cm (35 inch) high. It is in approximately 1:37 scale, or minifig scale if you talk LEGO. It contains around 25,000 LEGO bricks. The model is entirely pure LEGO. It is 192 studs long and 144 studs wide.
It will be displayed at BrickWorld, Chicago this year (June, 2009). Later this year in December it'll be displayed in "Tehnicki Muzej", Zagreb on exhibition about plastic.
Details
When I decided to build it, it was already under restoration so unfortunately I don't have my own pictures of the building. Pictures I (originally) took, to view some of the details, aren't quite nice to show here for an example, because building was already covered with construction scaffolding and is still today. So pictures shown here aren't mine, but took from various sources from the web. If you find any of these pictures copyrighted please let me know, and I will remove them right away.
I would like to thank those who helped and supported me: Klementina Kos, Marin Stipkovic, Luka Kapeter, Matija Puzar (for engraving me bricks for the building name), Hrvoje Cop (for loaning me his Nikon D700), my Mum (for surviving the mess) and all Kockice members for their encouragement.
Comments
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June 3, 2012 |
great roof!! |
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January 28, 2011 |
Excellent !!! |
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January 22, 2011 |
I was totally amazed and in awe, then came the details, I am a detail oriented person...can you just imagine how I felt to find the best for last!?! |
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April 6, 2010 |
Impressive! I especially like the detail-photos and all the glassy roofs. |
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November 14, 2009 |
wow! i am from croatia! |
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September 25, 2009 |
Ambassador? With skills like that you should be the friggin' Supreme Chancellor, Potentate, or something...more lofty!
Gorgeous MOC. |
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September 18, 2009 |
I don't even know where to start. This is an amazing creation in itself. I am amazed that this creation traveled from Croatia all the way to the Chicago area for display at Brickworld. I can not even begin to think of how difficult that would be. Not only the size of this creation amazes me, but the accurate details seen throughout the whole creation like the detail and complexity of the roof. in conclusion this is one of the most true to life Lego creations I have ever seen. Great job! |
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September 14, 2009 |
awesome, oh and i am also from Croatia =) |
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Gordan Grguric September 12, 2009 |
Phenomenal, Matija, and fantastic - or "phenomentastic", as they say in Croatian! |
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July 18, 2009 |
brilliant |
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June 28, 2009 |
This is an amazing building in pictures, and even more impressive in person! I'm glad I got a chance to see it at BrickWorld, and my wife and I really enjoyed meeting you. Hope to see you next year! |
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George Kemper June 26, 2009 |
Wow this is great! It was really nice to meet you at Brickworld and I hope to see you next year. I still cant belive how big it is!-George |
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June 24, 2009 |
It was a pleasure to meet you man. This building was stunning in person, and I am glad I got to see it. Hope to see you next year. Lee. |
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June 22, 2009 |
I saw this MOC at Brickworld. Amazing that Matija got it all the way to Chicago. Even more amazing to see it in person. The level of detail, the incredible way he fit the parts for the roof... a stunning build.
(I voted for you!!) |
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June 22, 2009 |
This piece of art is more impressive when it's right in front of you than in the photos -- and it's impressive in the photos! Glad you had a great time (eventually I'll get my photos up on flickr). Hope your trip home was uneventful! |
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June 8, 2009 |
that roof fantastic, too much detail to comment on. exellent work. |
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June 6, 2009 |
Hello Matija, Your Croatian Theater is brilliant! With great details like the statues at the entry. How did you make the curved window shape at the top of the main tower? An excellent way to display Croation architecture. |
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June 2, 2009 |
I've been in Croatia the past year and now I see the Pavillon in Zagreb with an epic look... I simply love your creation. |
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June 2, 2009 |
my god!! i've seen it in real life at least 20 times during construction..and I can say it is really a piece of engineering ingenuity, but it also looks fine..lol..little bit more than fine..amazing is more appropriate word..
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June 2, 2009 |
Great job re-creating the real thing...amazing work! |
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erik smit June 1, 2009 |
That is really a major piece of work. Just great! Esp. love the realistic looking dome. Just saw this on Eurobricks, btw. |
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You all think it looks good in these pics - you should see the actual MOC! Amazing!! Really great job Matija - glad you got it finished in time for the 'Windy City'. Have fun - you earned it!! |
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May 29, 2009 |
Incredible! What an amazing MOC. You did an unbelievable job with all the details. The best building model I have ever scene. |
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I made it |
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May 29, 2009 |
Quoting Bill Toenjes
...all of the curved sloped roofs you've managed to create with no (apparent) cut plates...
No apparent, and none what soever. No bricks were harmed during the construction. ;) And roofs have lots of swivel hinges. That is the trick for the curve. You'll see it at BW. Thanks for the comment! Cya
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May 28, 2009 |
It's an exact replica of the original, down to the last detail. -Freela |
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May 28, 2009 |
This is truly great! |
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May 28, 2009 |
This isn't anything less than a fantastic creation, Matija. Looks incredibly detailed and realistic. Very clever use of bricks for the roofs as well. |
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May 28, 2009 |
The detailing is simply fantastic. The curvature of the roof completely blows me away. I'm looking forward to getting a good look at it in Chicago! |
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May 27, 2009 |
Very nice, and detailed. I love it! |
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May 27, 2009 |
Amazing! I'm particularly impressed with the ways all the roofs are constructed... all of the curved sloped roofs you've managed to create with no (apparent) cut plates. I'm really looking forward to seeing this close up at BrickWorld! |
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May 27, 2009 |
Oooo very nice, my mom was born in Croatia, not too far from Zagreb, I gotta show her this. I applaude you for spending so much time and effort on this beauty, it looks exactly like the real thing! |
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May 27, 2009 |
Ditto what Nannan said. This thing is legoland sized!!! |
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May 27, 2009 |
This looks so much bigger in the actual photo with you standing next to it. I'm amazed at how you're able to transport the whole thing to BrickWorld. |
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May 27, 2009 |
WOW ... amazing detail.
Truly brilliant |
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May 27, 2009 |
Oh Jesus~~This is so big so accurrate~~Simply amazing |
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May 27, 2009 |
This is astounding. Very good build. It looks so massive with you standing next to it, that pic, more than anything, says "impressive" to me. |
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May 27, 2009 |
Quoting Vibor Cavor
Oh, yes! Well done! I just hope this thing will be a part of the group exhibition!
Yeap, of course. First Brickworld, then Tehnicki muzej twice, and we'll see what afterwards.
Thank you all for the nice comments!
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May 27, 2009 |
This MOC is grat it looks much better live than on the picture so everyone who will bw attending BRICKWORLD will be able to see this astonishing moc in person. AMAZING! |
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May 27, 2009 |
This is the best MOC I've ever seen! |
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May 27, 2009 |
Ouch! Outstanding! And soooo inspiring! Gotta get me some more bricks... |
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May 27, 2009 |
Wow. This is one of the best things I like about lego: using it to built stuff we know from real life. Well done. |
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May 27, 2009 |
Excellent work!! Just love how you did all the details! You surely a LEGO Master! ;) |
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May 27, 2009 |
Quoting Dave Sterling
This is awesome Matija! Great detail work and I love the way you did the various roofs. I hope you are bringing this with to Brickworld. I would love to get a closer look at it.
Thanks! And yes, it's coming with me!
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May 27, 2009 |
Oh, yes! Well done! I just hope this thing will be a part of the group exhibition! |
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May 27, 2009 |
Excellent work, the long waiting finally paid off :) |
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May 27, 2009 |
A great rendition of the building in LEGO, as I've said many times before. |
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May 27, 2009 |
Huh, what to say? I am one of the few chosen ones that saw this beauty in real life and I can tell you that it is 10 times more beautiful and impressive than in pictures. Amazing!! |
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May 27, 2009 |
Fantastic work. Piece of reality ideally translated into the LEGO world. Breathtaking! |
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Dave Sterling May 26, 2009 |
This is awesome Matija! Great detail work and I love the way you did the various roofs. I hope you are bringing this with to Brickworld. I would love to get a closer look at it.
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| Tristan Amaya May 26, 2009 |
Awesome!
The detail is astouding! |
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May 26, 2009 |
Great stuff! Love all of the detailing, and the way you handled the central roof section is brilliant. Wonderful work! |
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May 26, 2009 |
You're lucky the real building is more yellowish than tan. Can you imagine trying to get all the necessary pieces to build this in tan? It would probably cost you ten times as much! |
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May 26, 2009 |
You are -the- lego architect. |
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May 26, 2009 |
The realism is insane! You got some mad LEGO® building skills! |
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May 26, 2009 |
Two words could describe this creation: "High Quality". |
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May 26, 2009 |
Fantastic!! The detail is absolutely stunning, not to mention the actual size and those awesome windows. Great work! |
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May 26, 2009 |
A really great building. All the roof parts look superb. I love the yellow color. It just never seems right until someone does something like this. Your building makes me want to build a building in yellow. The original building seems to be yellow in color, which is not common around here. It looks like a cool building, nice to see they are fixing it up. see ya. garth |
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