Stephen Schwartz works with Addy Berry and Liam Spengler using Lego blocks to build the northern wall of the Old City of Jerusalem during a Jan. 25 presentation at Cason United Methodist Church in Delray Beach. Photos by Janis Fontaine/The Coastal Star
Delray’s buildings next up for architect whose Lego creations stasrted with the Old City of Jerusalem
By Janis Fontaine
Stephen Schwartz knew he loved architecture — that was his lifelong career — but he didn’t know he loved teaching about architecture even more.
In 1996 his daughter, Lana, a second-grade teacher, asked him to help her teach a lesson to her class. He came up with a lesson on how cities are built using one of the kids’ favorite toys: The colorful Lego.
Afterward he thought, “I can teach second-graders about city design, and they understand it!” He made such a strong connection with the students, and the value in what he had done was so obvious, he wanted to do it again.
Schwartz, who has wintered in Delray Beach the past six years, developed a program to teach mostly Jewish families about the Old City of Jerusalem. “Imagine a city 3,000 years old,” he marvels. He still gets excited talking about this amazing tract of land, where three of the world’s greatest monotheistic religions trace their origins. “The interfaith part is intriguing to me.”
His presentations on Jerusalem — including a Christian version of his lesson that visits the Church of the Holy Sepulcher, the largest building in the city, and traces the Stations of the Cross, the landmarks path Jesus took on his final walk to the crucifixion — became the cornerstone of his new business, Building Blocks Workshops LLC, based in Livingston, New Jersey.
“Bunny and I have done well over a thousand presentations, all over the Northeast, in New York, New Jersey, Boston, Schwartz said.”
Emily Popolizio brought Schwartz to Cason United Methodist Church in Delray Beach on Jan. 25 to teach a learning module for Cason Kids Care, a group that Popolizio started three years ago to teach Christian principles of kindness and service to children aged 5-11.
Lego creation of Delray in the works
Schwartz’s company followed up the Old City of Jerusalem with Lego models of Vatican City and the Warsaw Ghetto. Then tiny municipalities started expressing an interest in having models made. “We do about 10 cities a year to try to teach people about the architectural heritage of their town. We just did Stonington, Connecticut, and that one was huge, 24-by-34 feet,” he said.
For the last several years, Schwartz has worked with historical societies to preserve the history of their cities for posterity. He’s currently working with the Delray Beach Preservation Trust on a model of Delray Beach. It will have 50 buildings set among five historic districts. The family building program, open to the community, will take place in March (delraybeachpreservation.org/).
“I enjoy working with historical societies,” Schwartz said.
Schwartz tells the story of Jerusalem to a group of children at Cason United Methodist Church.
Old City of Jerusalem
The Jewish community is hungry for lessons on its history and culture, and Schwartz’s program is so casual and accessible, families flock to it like it was a day of play. “This program is not just for kids,” he said. “It’s meant to be interfaith and intergenerational.”
Plus, it’s fun. It’s a hands-on way to learn that gets moms and dads down on the floor with the kids snapping together pieces of plastic. The purpose of the families building is to give context to the city. The foreign becomes familiar as participants learn the name and location of each of the eight gates, the different sections where religious groups lived, the places of worship and the “directional orientation” of all these elements. Scholars say the program is especially relevant around the Jewish holidays of Yom Ha’atzmaut, Yom Yerushalayim, and Tisha B’av, which mark, respectively, Israel’s Independence Day in 1948, the reunification of Jerusalem in 1967, and a day of fasting commemorating the destruction of the city’s first and second temples.
Building blocks of history
When Schwartz taught with his daughter, he used a big sheet of paper as his map, and the students built structures like city hall and the public library, stores and houses, streets and parks and parking lots. That sparked a conversation about zoning laws — among second-graders.
Teaching, Schwartz says, is about “engagement.” He believes as the participants are building the important Jewish landmarks like the Kotel (Western Wall), King David’s Tower and the Beit Hamikdosh (The Holy Temple), the work/play keeps them focused, and the history gets into their heads. They take a certain ownership in the final phase, as groups place their buildings inside the walled city.
Schwartz uses a large 20-by-20-foot vinyl mat to lay out Jerusalem. After about an hour and 45 minutes of building, the groups are finished. Then Schwartz asks everyone to sit down around the mat and leads a tour around the city. Now his stories have a new perspective and meaning. “It’s a new vision of Jerusalem,” he said.
An insatiable curiosity
Schwartz’s display at Cason stayed up for just a day before it was packed up for its next gig. It’s a tough schedule, and Schwartz turns 83 this month. “I’ve always been energetic, able to handle pressure,” he says. But Bunny, who has helped him all these years, is ready to hand the torch to a new generation. Their son, Michael, has agreed to get more involved. He taught a program with Schwartz in December.
Like the director of a spontaneous orchestra, Schwartz conducts the construction using as many as 100,000 Legos. “Two hours is the perfect amount of time for a project. I can keep 150 people busy at the same time,” he says, “and the results are instantaneous and positive.”
Even at 83, Schwartz has an insatiable curiosity — and his passion for sharing that with others is what has made him so popular. Ask him if he enjoys what he does and he says, “Oh my God, I love it.”
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