Academic creates Stanisław Lem Lego set to teach youngsters about author’s works
A literature academic has created six Lego sets dedicated to sci-fi writer Stanisław Lem.
Dr. Piotr Przytuła, a researcher at the Department of Polish Literature at the University of Warmia and Mazury, came up with the idea to help younger people learn about the author.
Lem is probably best remembered for his 1961 novel Solaris, which has since been turned into a motion picture three times. His books have been translated into over 40 languages and sold over 45 million copies worldwide.
The Lem Lego set is based on illustrations created by Daniel Mróz, an artist who illustrated all Lem’s science fiction novels.
Dr. Przytuła told his university’s website: “My goal was to present Lem in a universal Lego language in an international environment.
“Lego through its shortness and simplicity allows you to bring out what is most important. I would very much like this project to exist, because Lem is not known among young people, also among young fans of Lego bricks.”
Dr. Przytuła told his university’s website: “My goal was to present Lem in a universal Lego language in an international environment.
The Lem Lego set is based on illustrations created by Daniel Mróz, an artist who illustrated all Lem’s science fiction novels. Mróz not only illustrated Lem’s works of fiction but other notable authors including Sławomir Mrożek, Franz Kafka and Jules Verne.
Dr. Przytuła said: “There is rarely such chemistry and artistic compatibility between a writer and an illustrator. It seems to me that Mróz, known for his fondness for the grotesque and surrealism, best reflected the style of Lem's work.
“This is an amazing artistic relationship; something like this rarely happens and I always think of Lem with Mróz's graphics.”
Lem gained a reputation for predicting the future in his books, with e-readers, the internet, smartphones, 3D printing and audiobooks just a few of the inventions he foreshadowed.
The sets that have now been submitted to Lego in the hope that official sets will be released by the company. They include a book with three interchangeable covers, a figure of the author in his library, a Solaris station, a Prix pilot and other robots.
Dr. Przytuła said: “My passion for building with Lego bricks was revived with the arrival of my son. The choice of the writer in the year of Lem was obvious. I built constructions inspired by the works with which Lem is probably most associated in the international arena.”
The author had an extensive career and continued writing until his death in 2006. Among his 18 novels there is a significant amount of content that examines the relationship between man and machine, a subject that has only intensified as time has progressed.
Lem is probably best remembered for his 1961 novel Solaris, which has since been turned into a motion picture three times. His books have been translated into over 40 languages and sold over 45 million copies worldwide.
His collection of tales in Bajki Robotów (Fables for Robots), first printed in 1964, had a dramatic impact on most who discovered them. Set in a world inhabited only by robots the tales explore complex issues with a satirical flair.
Lem has garnered a well-earned reputation for predicting the future in his writings for seeing some of the most important inventions of modern life before they were invented or popularised.
He wrote about e-readers, the internet, smartphones, 3D printing and audiobooks just to mention a few of the inventions he foreshadowed.
The sets that have now been submitted to Lego in the hope that official sets will be released by the company. They include a book with three interchangeable covers, a figure of the author in his library, a Solaris station, a Prix pilot and other robots.
In recognition of 2021 being the 100th anniversary of Lem’s birth, the year of Lem was declared on 27th November 2020 after a resolution was adopted in Poland’s lower house of parliament, the Sejm.
There is a dedicated website, roklema.pl, where fans can keep up to date with the latest events celebrating the author.
