Thinking Out Of The Block

A full-sized tram (top, above and right) built from 1.8 million pieces of Lego bricks is on display in central Budapest.

The creation of Hungarian artist Balazs Doczy, it measures about 11m long and is said to be the first of its kind in the world.

To build his giant Lego structures, which usually take hundreds of thousands of bricks, Hungarian artist Balazs Doczy first must solve major "engineering challenges".

"Every structure has an Achilles' heel. Once it is solved, the rest of the work is easy," said the 48-year-old.

He needed 90 helpers for one of his most recent works - a life-size Lego tram made up of a staggering 1.8 million pieces. Together, they put in around 6,800 hours to assemble Doczy's most ambitious project that is now on display in a bustling square in central Budapest.

The 11m-long Lego tram - commissioned by Budapest's transport companies and its tourist office - has attracted droves.

"We've never seen anything like this before," said Malaysian tourist Lucas Chang, 32, while dance coach Barbara Rajnai said the children in her son and daughter's kindergarten told them to check it out.

A professional Lego artist for more than 10 years, Doczy works more like an architect than a builder, relying on specialist software to draw up plans and assembling bricks only when he needs to test out a particular design.