Lego - LEGO Transforms the Aushopping Saisons de Meaux Shopping Center into a Space Adventure Playground

By Mulder, Meaux, Aushopping Saisons de Meaux, 25 april 2026

Just a few miles from Disneyland Paris and in the heart of a region where family recreation plays a key role, Aushopping Saisons de Meaux is embracing the wonder of spring with an event that goes beyond the typical shopping experience. From April 18 to May 2, 2026, the shopping center’s Place de l’Arbre will host a major LEGO® exhibition dedicated to space, designed as an intergenerational immersion blending science fiction, artistic creation, and participatory play. Upon entering, the tone is set by a monumental piece titled Rocket Launch, created by Georg Schmitt, a certified LEGO® professional builder. The work took 104 hours to build, uses 64,427 bricks, measures 115 x 115 x 230 cm, and weighs 112 kg. More than just a prop, this rocket standing in the middle of the exhibition serves as a powerful visual statement: here, childhood rediscovers its dreams of space exploration, but on the scale of a grand spectacle.

The exhibition, however, takes on an even more impressive dimension when one discovers the diversity of the creations on display. One of the highlights is a massive X-Wing starfighter belonging to Luke Skywalker, a direct homage to Star Wars: A New Hope. The figures on display give a sense of the scale of the challenge: 254 hours of assembly, 147,613 bricks, 320 x 300 x 80 cm, weighing 227 kg. Rarely has a model inspired by the saga created by George Lucas seemed so tangible in a Paris-area shopping mall. The presence of the X-Wing is no coincidence: LEGO has been officially collaborating with Lucasfilm since 1999 on the LEGO Star Wars line, which has become one of the most profitable and iconic in the Danish group’s history. By recreating this iconic craft on a near-museum scale, the exhibition bridges the nostalgia of parents with the discoveries of children, which remains one of the brand’s greatest strategic strengths.

Another standout piece: The showdown between Luke Skywalker and Darth Vader, inspired by Return of the Jedi. With 62,098 bricks, 178 hours of work, dimensions of 80 x 80 x 185 cm, and a weight of 150 kg, the scene brings one of the most famous duels in popular cinema to life in three dimensions. This choice speaks volumes about how LEGO has become a universal language: the brick is no longer used just to build houses or trucks; it reconstructs collective memory. Since the release of the first modern brick system in 1958, LEGO pieces have remained compatible with one another—an industrial feat often cited as one of the pillars of the global success of the company founded in Billund, Denmark. It is precisely this technical continuity that today allows artists like Georg Schmitt to conceive of gigantic works with near-architectural precision.

More unexpected and particularly popular with younger visitors, the BB-8 Droid and Jawa scene reminds us that the Star Wars universe thrives as much on secondary characters as on legendary heroes. The technical specifications list two separate constructions: BB-8, built in 18 hours using 11,942 bricks, and the Jawa, built in 72 hours using 23,423 bricks. The entire display stands up to 145 cm tall. This type of composition reflects a strong trend in contemporary LEGO: the rise of sculptural figures. For several years now, the brand has been developing decorative sets for adults as well as narrative models for children, to the point that in 2024 nearly 15% of new products launched on the U.S. market were explicitly aimed at adult collectors.

On-site, visitors won’t just be admiring the displays. The organizers have set up an interactive space featuring a classic LEGO® area for budding builders and a DUPLO® area for the little ones, open Wednesdays and Saturdays from 2 p.m. to 6 p.m. This hands-on aspect aligns with the historical DNA of the group founded by Ole Kirk Christiansen in 1932. The name LEGO comes from the Danish expression leg godt, meaning “play well,” and the brand’s philosophy has been rooted in learning through hands-on play since its inception. Long before modern discourse on creativity or active learning, the Danish company had already understood that building, taking apart, and then starting over again was a powerful driver of cognitive development.

This event also takes place against a backdrop of strong economic performance for LEGO, now the world’s leading toy manufacturer by revenue. The company operates more than a thousand stores worldwide and has recently further expanded its manufacturing capacity with the planned opening of a sixth global factory in Vietnam in 2025. Its production capacity remains staggering: tens of billions of pieces roll off its production lines each year. Behind the apparent simplicity of a single brick lies an extreme demand for precision, with manufacturing tolerances measured in micrometers so that pieces produced decades apart still fit together perfectly.

What makes the exhibition at Les Saisons de Meaux particularly interesting is, ultimately, its symbolic relocation of LEGO art away from its usual venues. We often see this type of creation at trade shows, fan conventions, or Legoland parks. Here, they find their way into an everyday space, amidst family errands and vacation strolls. This profoundly changes the public’s relationship with the artwork: people don’t necessarily come to see an exhibition, and yet they stop, take photos, discuss the number of bricks, and compare them to their own creations at home. This is perhaps the event’s greatest achievement: reminding us that popular culture can emerge where we least expect it.

With this free event, Aushopping Saisons de Meaux succeeds in transforming a shopping center into an imaginary launchpad. Between monumental rockets, a giant X-Wing, galactic duels, and creative workshops, the event brings together several generations around a shared language made of small, colorful bricks. And in a spring often saturated with screens, seeing children look up at a hand-built rocket remains a precious sight.

You can discover our photos in our Flickr page

Practical Information
Dates: April 18 to May 2, 2026
Exhibition: open daily from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m.
LEGO® & DUPLO® Play Area: Wednesdays and Saturdays from 2 p.m. to 6 p.m.
Location: Place de l’Arbre, shopping center

Photos and 4K video: Boris Colletier / Mulderville