When you’re a kid, there are few better ways to spend an afternoon than playing with LEGO bricks. Maybe you want to build a spaceship, a Viking ship, or a firehouse. Or maybe you’re building something that previously only existed in your imagination.

Or maybe, like me, you grew up and wrote a book about LEGO minifigures.

Adam Reed Tucker has gone one further: He makes a living playing with LEGO. The architectural artist and LEGO Certified Professional (seen above with his work) has made a career creating landmark buildings using LEGO. His mega models–which use up to half a million bricks and can shoot up to 18 feet high–include the Empire State Building, the Space Needle, and the John Hancock Center in Chicago. Now 15 of these brick creations are on display at the National Building Museum as part of “LEGO Architecture: Towering Ambition.”

To celebrate the exhibit, Tucker will be unveiling a brand new creation, which is his take on the White House. Kids–and adults who want to pretend they’re still kids–can purchase a smaller version of the model at the museum store to take home and build themselves.

The exhibition runs through Sept. 5 at the National Building Museum, 401 F St. NW. $5. (202) 272-2448.