Back in 2009, the Internet marveled at Japanese builder talapz‘s mind-boggling pop-up Kinkaku-ji pavilion. Now, he’s at it again! This time, he’s built Todai-ji, a temple in Nara, Japan that houses the world’s largest bronze statue of Buddha.
Nara was one of Japan’s first capitol cities, before Kyoto and Tokyo. Todai-ji and the Giant Buddha (Daibutsu) are part of a UNESCO World Heritage site, encompassing treasures from the period of ancient Japan (AD 710-794) that shares the city’s name.
For those of you inclined to try building your own pop-up Todai-ji, there is hope! In the second half of the video, talapz provides step-by-step instructions (449 steps) to build your own pop-up Todai-ji temple from a parts list — complete with Bricklink IDs — of 8816 LEGO elements. Good luck!