— By Dede Williams — 

Rome, as all know, wasn’t built in a day. Nor was the cathedral of Notre Dame, that jewel of medieval architecture whose spire points 98 m into the heavens over Paris. It took two centuries from the laying of the foundation stone in 1163 until completion in the 14th century.

In contrast, the ambitious reconstruction of the ancient stone and wooden structure after the devastating fire of 2019 took only a year. But how long should it to take to recreate the famous church in plastic?

Since Danish toy maker Lego (Billund) last year launched its 4,383-piece Notre Dame architecture set, thousands of AFOLs – as the company calls adult fans of the tiny bricks made of ABS – are finding out.

Building a famous relic isn’t child’s play, AFOLs will assure you. Parents who work in high pressure jobs and build with Lego to unwind – will hide their labour of love in a closet before letting Junior have a go at it. But even if Daisy the dog sinks her teeth into it or the cat carries one away, bricks remain compatible for eons, or at least back to 1958, the year of the toymaker’s founding. So, Notre Dame can be rebuilt again and again, if needed.

But is it acceptable for eco-conscious grown-ups to play with plastic toys? Mindful of the bottom line, when re-inventing historic structures, the forward-looking Danes have also been thinking – as an executive recently hinted – about switching from ABS to biopolymers such as PLA. Already, delicate parts such as dragon wings, palm trees, and fishing rods are from sugar cane-derived polyethylene. And there’s always recycling, but that’s another story.