UC Berkeley’s iconic Campanile could soon be popping up as a living room centerpiece around the globe, thanks to Lego enthusiast and campus alumnus Mike Buerchner.
In February, Buerchner published his design, “Sather Tower: The Campanile of UC Berkeley,” to Lego Ideas, a platform that allows Lego fans to submit custom sets in hopes of having them officially produced. The set must receive 10,000 votes of support to become an eligible Product Idea, meaning it can be considered for production.
The 2,556-piece, 40-inch-tall set captures the 307-foot tower’s architectural grandeur at a 1:92 scale and features a detailed observation platform, clock face and iconic green spire.
“I love the architecture of it — it’s globally known,” Buerchner said. “I just think it’s an iconic representation of the Berkeley campus.”
Buerchner graduated from UC Berkeley in 1989 with a degree in electrical engineering and computer science and went on to earn a Master of Business Administration from the Haas School of Business in 1993. His love for Lego began in childhood and continued throughout his life, as Buerchner said he would play with Lego bricks with his children and still collects and builds sets to this day.
When he had some free time in December of last year, Buerchner began experimenting on BrickLink Studio, a software program that lets users create 3D models out of Lego bricks.
“I realized there hasn’t been, (or) at least I’d never been aware of, a Lego set for the University of California, especially Berkeley,” Buerchner said. “I feel like Berkeley is the iconic campus for the University of California and I started thinking, ‘Well, what if I was going to build something?’”
After considering different ways to represent UC Berkeley in Lego form, including building a model of the entire campus, Buerchner decided on the Campanile, which he described as an “iconic representation” of UC Berkeley.
Buerchner said he started designing the set with the arches and the clock tower before refining the roofline. He utilized the Lego bricks’ customizable nature, creating custom Roman numeral tiles for the clock face and repurposing car fender pieces to add accents to the tower’s arches.
“I love the creativity that comes along with (Lego) and the ability to kind of put your ideas into something tangible and physical through the different kinds of pieces they have,” Buerchner said.
The hands of the clock in pictures of the set on the Lego Ideas website are set to slightly after 5 p.m., a time Buerchner associates with fond memories.
He recalls heading back to the dorms for dinner during his freshman year as the Campanile rang in the background.
“I like that sound, the bells and the carillon ringing out as I’m walking to and from classes,” Buerchner said. “Walking back to the dorms from classes freshman year, I would just always remember hearing the Campanile ring at 5 o’clock.”
Typically, only a few sets that reach 10,000 supporters are selected by Lego to go into production. Last year, 146 sets became eligible Product Ideas but only three became products.
To gain support for his project, Buerchner turned to the Cal Alumni Association’s website, where he posted a note calling on alumni, students and faculty members who have “ever felt that pang of nostalgia hearing those bells” to take two minutes out of their day to support the set.
According to campus spokesperson Adam Ratliff, the set would require a licensing agreement between UC Berkeley and Lego to move forward.
“I really hope this will be made,” said campus assistant director of visitor services Erin Proudfoot, who manages the Campanile’s visitor operations, in an email. “The Campanile is our iconic clock & bell tower, a shining beacon of UC Berkeley. I would love to sell the LEGO set in the Campanile as it would be a hit for our visitors and alumni.”