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Fire brigade incidents built of LEGO bricks

Incidentencity glazenwassers bevrijd 2-2The world's largest collection of fire brigade incidents built of LEGO bricks. The architects, builders and founding fathers of this city are firemen André Overeem and Evert de Graaf. Both of them are active members of the independent association of LEGO builders and collectors. The first version - "De Bouwsteen"- was exhibited at the 2004 Zwolle LEGOworld and was only 3 square meters big. The current IncidentCity comprises about 21 square meters.

Goals of the project

Raising awareness and attention for the work of firemen and doing so, in a playful and educational manner.

Playful

The city is- just like the society we live in- in a constant flux. The architects therefore continuously strive to bring in new incidents and remakes of current events. The city's strength inherently lies in its’ familiarity, simplicity and clarity. The incidents are pure in the way they are being portrayed. No sensation is added to spice up an event. The city's imposing buildings and the many fire engines have proven to create a magnetic field alluring many people. And it's not just kids, it's adults too.

Edutainment

Incidentencity snelwegincident 5-5INCIDENTENCITY also has an educational function to it. We strive for it to show that working as a fireman can be tremendously challenging and multifaceted and that firemen do great work, regardless of circumstances. The fire brigade, police and ambulance are emergency services often being deployed to incidents. But what these emergency services exactly do is not always visible and clear. To a question such as; “What does a fireman do?”, a kid would probably answer something like; “Rescue cats from trees and extinguish fires”. This does not really to justice to the multifaceted work of firemen. This is exactly why IncidentCity came to existence. It is a city that displays an eclectic mix of various incidents that firemen have dealt with over the course of the last years. Its audience is being challenged to identify all 23 incidents by using a questionnaire. In practice, this means a very educational experience for young and old. After this, the generalization and perspective will be modified. This is how we- the architects- strive to teach children in a playful and educative manner about the work of firemen. They after all, might be the much needed firemen of the future.

We hope you enjoy watching the city, its accidents and displays and hope you’ll gain some insights.