Blockholm is an exact replica of Stockholm reproduced in Minecraft.
If you – or your children – are part of the generation that’s swapping lego for Minecraft, you might be interested in a new CIOB competition.
To celebrate International Construction Management Day on 10 March, the CIOB is inviting anyone with an interest in design and construction to find an interesting and imaginative way to spell out the letters CIOB in Lego, illustration, videos or photographs, or even 3D models built in Minecraft.
Entries should be sent to the CIOB via Twitter @theCIOB using hashtag #ICMD or via the institute’s Facebook page by 9 March. The winning entrant, to be announced on March 10, will win a Google Nexus 7*.
The Minecraft virtual 3D world-building game has become a phenomenon across the UK, with the “pocket edition” of the game named the top-selling app of 2013 for iPhones and iPads.
And the cultural shift from plastic Lego bricks to Minecraft clicks was highlighted on this week’s edition of BBC 2’s Culture Show, which met children constructing elaborate fantasy worlds and architects and town planners using the game to inform the development of neighbourhoods.
"The world of virtual building and creation is already here and over 40 million young people are interested. The question is, can the industry develop that interest into a career in construction?"
Saul Townsend, CIOB
The CIOB believes that the rising generation’s interest in Minecraft could incline its thousands of fans towards careers in the digitally-enabled construction industry of the future.
Saul Townsend, communications manager at the CIOB, said: “If the industry is wondering where the skills for a digital construction industry will come from, it only needs to look at Minecraft.
“Learning through play is a powerful way to develop skills, military training programmes use video game technology, while Formula 1 drivers learn new tracks in video simulators. The world of virtual building and creation is already here and over 40 million young people are interested. The question is, can the industry develop that interest into a career in construction?”
The Culture Show featured Professor Benachir Medjdoub at Nottingham Trent University, who had built a Minecraft version of Hackney to allow the community to collaborate on proposed modifications and to discuss them with local planners.
A larger-scale version of the same idea was tested last year in Sweden with the “Blockholm” project, an interactive game where Stockholm’s official land data was translated into Minecraft.
Participants with a Minecraft license could build their own dream houses, parks or buildings in real-life locations, while anyone who logged on to the website www.blockholm.se could log on to get a bird’s eye view of what was happening.
According to the Culture Show, the UN has also used the game with children in Kenya to involve them in plans to redesign areas in desperate need of restructuring.
On International Construction Management Day, construction and project management bodies across the world acknowledge the important work done by construction managers.
Last year, the CIOB celebrated ICM Day by building a Lego version of Tower Bridge using more than 4,000 pieces. Lego has also been a source of inspiration for a number of real buildings, such as Richard Rogers’ colourful prefabricated Pompidou Centre in Paris, and Bjarke Ingels’ new headquarters in Denmark.
Meanwhile, the Lego Movie is opening in UK cinemas this weekend, featuring construction worker Emmett as its lead character.
