The Bricks Box

MEET THE MAKER: THE BUILDER BEHIND THE VISION, INTERVIEW BY GIORGIO D'ALBANO

51th episode:

SANDOR BERECZ a.k.a. UNIBRICK Sandor Berecz

Where are you from and what did you study?

Hi ! I’m from Lyon, France and I studied business management and entrepreneurship

What do you do for a living now?

I started my own company 4 years ago which is named Unibrick. Basically, I’m organizing events, workshops and building sets for my customers. And I’m kind of proud to say that it’s working well and I'm starting to live with it !

What inspired you to become a LEGO builder?

Well, it’s an uncommon story. My younger sister is disabled (Autism troubles) so when I was a kid, I tried as much as possible to let my parents take care of my sister. And that’s how I received my first Lego set, and then a second one and so on

Where do you find inspiration for your creations?

Depends of what I want to build or what I have to do. For my work, I’m following customer instructions. but for me I’m really into Japanese culture, especially Shonen (like One Piece). Even if I had a long Harry Potter period

What is your favorite LEGO build among those you've made so far?

Without any doubt I would say “Lugdu’Briques, The Roman city”. I did not build it alone. It’s a huge project we (my coworkers and I) did for a museum based in Lyon. With @Bertrand Barbe (such a talented guy who won Lego Master France season 4), we designed all the structures and the visitors came to build them. Almost 1000 visitors came to help us !

What has been the most complex challenge you've faced as a LEGO builder?

Well if there is something I learned with Lego it’s that even a really hard challenge can be solved. But I struggled so many times with ... roofs ! I don’t why but I think that my brain is not braining when I do a “not normal roof” ! That’s why I’m working with Bertrand and he is my solution to every problem Ahah

Do you have a favorite technique or a special method you use when building?

Not really, I’m always looking for new techniques to use. So I’m spending a lot of time on Facebook or Pinterest. I think I’m more of a copycat than an inventor. But it’s always cool to discover new ways to do things with bricks

What themes or subjects do you most enjoy exploring in your creations?

I guess I always really like to put nature in my creations. And figs. And I can spend way too many hours to place them at the good spot, to decorate with trees, flowers, animals, just in order to have something natural as if we took a picture back in time

What is the biggest or most ambitious project you’ve ever completed?

Without any doubt that’s the Roman city. The city is 23m2 and almost a million pieces (a lot are used for the water but still !) It took us 9 months to bring it to life, 1 to place every detail, every single minifigure. Probably thousands of hours to design, do the instructions, sort of the bricks ... A Roman work !

What advice would you give to someone who wants to become an expert LEGO builder?

Hmm I will probably say : Try. Even if you think it’s bad, try it. Then it will break or fall or whatever but you will understand why and learn from that. For me it’s the fastest way to succeed. Failure is part of the journey.

Never give up of course but yeah fail it until you make it