From Botanical Gardens to Flagship Stores: the Biggest 'Brick by Brick' Exhibits Right Now
By Maya Lin-Takahashi
The Fort Worth Botanic Garden is transforming its living grounds into an open-air gallery where engineered wildlife mingles with native Texan flora. Sean Kenney, a pioneering master model builder and contemporary artist, created Nature POP! to present familiar ecosystem relationships through bold, stylized palettes. Kenney avoids standard camouflage. Instead, his team renders a five-foot dragonfly in neon magenta or a family of deer in brilliant geometric stripes.
The production footprint is staggering. Constructing the full display required roughly 800,000 individual bricks and thousands of studio hours. Kenney’s studio maps every organic curve using custom 3D voxelization software before a single element snaps into place.
Botanical garden exhibits face distinctive curatorial demands. Placing synthetic, rigid plastic figures inside dynamic, humid microclimates creates visual friction that draws younger demographics into conservation-focused spaces. Horticultural teams collaborate directly with the artist's rigging crews, ensuring that concrete footings and ground stakes do not disturb historic root systems or sensitive perennial beds.
Maya is a hardware enthusiast who tests and reviews smart home devices, smartphones, wearables, and audio gear. She focuses on practical consumer value and build quality.
