Deconstructing LEGO: The Medium and Messages of LEGO Play

This book investigates a paradox of creative yet scripted play—how LEGO invites players to build ‘freely’ with and within its highly structured, ideologically-laden toy system. First, this book considers theories and methods for deconstructing LEGO as a medium of bricolage, the creative reassembly of already-significant elements.
Then, it pieces together readings of numerous LEGO sets, advertisements, videogames, films, and other media that show how LEGO constructs five ideologies of play: construction play, dramatic play, digital play, transmedia play, and attachment play. From suburban traffic patterns to architectural croissants, from feminized mini-doll bodies to toys-to-life stories, from virtual construction to playful fan creations, this book explores how the LEGO medium conveys ideological messages—not by transmitting clear statements but by providing implicit instructions for how to reassemble meanings it had all along.

Jonathan Rey Lee teaches at Cascadia University, USA. In the spirit of “hard fun,” he deconstructs material play media such as toys and tabletop games. Jonathan lives and plays in Seattle and has previously published articles on the material philosophy of the LEGO System and the ideology of creativity in The LEGO Movie.