Estonian Lego enthusiast completes model of St. Nicholas' Church after 18 months
Tallinn hobbyist Nikolai Mordan has spent a year and a half building a Lego model of St. Nicholas' (Niguliste) Church, now on display at an exhibition, and plans further landmark projects.
Tallinn resident Nikolai Mordan has recently focused his hobby on recreating well-known city buildings out of Lego bricks. His latest and most ambitious undertaking, a model of St. Nicholas' Church, also known as Niguliste, took a year and a half to complete, from initial idea to its appearance at an exhibition.
Mordan explained that most Lego enthusiasts begin by buying and assembling ready-made sets, then move on to browsing online instructions shared by other builders, before eventually attempting to design something entirely their own. He received his first Lego set in 1993, a small Formula One car given by his parents for Christmas. He began pursuing the hobby more seriously from 2011 onward, and it remains ongoing today. He no longer keeps track of exactly how many pieces he owns, having stopped counting once his collection reached roughly 1,000 to 1,500 bricks.
Mordan's recent interest has shifted specifically toward recreating Estonian landmarks. The first building he tackled was Tallinn Town Hall. Afterward, he decided to take on a more ambitious project and chose St. Nicholas' Church.
When building well-known structures, Mordan relies on planning software that helps calculate the required materials, meaning the Lego bricks needed. He is currently working on two buildings from the Ülemiste City business complex, for which the software has calculated the brick costs at around 400 euros.
