Design

Lego's new Art World Map is an 11,000-piece thing of beauty

Using Lego push pins, builders can mark out all the places they’ve visited... or the ones they want to.

Lego’s unveiled the Art World Map, its largest set ever with 11,695 pieces. The latest edition to its “art” range, the World Map comes in at just over two feet high by three feet wide.

The World Map is so large, in fact, that it consists of forty interconnecting base plates that you’ll build individually and then connect together for the finished set. Hanging hooks are included so you can hang it on a wall.

Lego says this isn’t a normal jigsaw puzzle where you have to figure out the construction alone. Included is an instruction booklet to build the map as designed. It’s really going to be more of a meditative experience, a way to relax and recharge with a glass of wine after a long work week.

What makes the World Map extra special is that builders have the freedom to reimagine the map by adding their own personal twists.

Not only can you choose your own colors to create unique patterns and represent parts of the world however you’d like, but you can also arrange the sections so that your favorite part of the world is in the center. Because the U.S. is not, in fact, the center of the universe.

The ocean area of the World Map is designed using a bathymetric representation, which depicts the topography of the ocean floor in a colorful style. But of course, you can also customize this however you’d like.

There’s even an accompanying soundtrack featuring travel experts recounting experiences from their past adventures.

It’s going to make you yearn to get back out there — and just as the world is reopening, no less. The set includes push pins that you can use to mark out the places you’ve been or highlight those still on your list.

The Art World Map is available via lego.com for $249.99 and will ship on August 1, 2021. That’s a lot of cash for Lego, but not a lot for an interactive work of art.

Thanks for reading,
head home for more!