Shanghai’s former oil tank spills a wave of 380,000 LEGO flowers

More than 380,000 hand-built LEGO flowers flow out from a former oil tank at Tank Shanghai Art Center. Together, they form a wave stretching approximately 30 metres across Shanghai’s West Bund and covering 800 square metres.

The Botanical Wave is the outdoor centrepiece of the LEGO Bloom Exhibition, running from 1 to 29 October 2026. Created by Our LEGO Agency, the campaign takes LEGO Botanicals into a public setting where a single flower becomes part of a much larger construction.

Inside, visitors can build flowers of their own and scan them into a shared digital landscape. The exhibition connects the scale of the outdoor wave to an activity someone can complete with their own hands.

Small flowers meet industrial scale

Tank Shanghai gives the installation a distinctive starting point. The former industrial structure sets the scale, with the flowers appearing to flow from the tank into the surrounding public space.

Roses, sunflowers, tulips and other botanical forms make up the display. The individual blooms remain the building units, even as they join a construction large enough to occupy part of the waterfront.

That change in scale carries the exhibition’s central invitation. A flower can sit in a home as a finished arrangement, become material for an artist or join thousands of others in a public installation.

The exhibition offers all three possibilities across its different spaces, connecting the outdoor wave to smaller arrangements and personal creations.

Visitors add their flowers to a digital landscape

The indoor experience, Where Blooms Begin, gives visitors a role in making something.

After building a LEGO botanical flower, they can scan it into a digital floral display. Their creation joins those made by other visitors, contributing to an evolving landscape on a 360-degree screen.

The physical wave outside was built for the exhibition. Visitors’ scanned flowers enter the digital experience, where individual contributions become part of a collective flow.

The indoor space also features 18 artworks that combine LEGO botanical elements with materials including metal, textiles and mirrors. These collaborations place the same pieces in different creative settings, expanding the range of forms visitors can explore.

Bloom Gallery brings the flowers back into everyday life

On the outdoor steps, Bloom Gallery presents 18 LEGO botanical arrangements in everyday settings. The displays bring the exhibition’s large-scale ideas closer to the rooms and spaces people use at home.

A pop-up shop also offers LEGO botanical sets, giving visitors a way to continue building after their visit.

The outdoor exhibition can be visited without a reservation. Entry to the indoor spaces requires a booking through LEGO’s WeChat mini programme.

Across the exhibition, visitors move between a completed public installation, artists’ interpretations and their own building activity. The giant wave establishes the scale of what can be made. The indoor experience then gives each person a place to begin.

Credits

Botanical Wave / LEGO Bloom Exhibition (2026). Brand LEGO. Agency Our LEGO Agency. Market China. Venue Tank Shanghai Art Center. Creative Specialist Bebe Wang. Art Director Achao Liu. Senior Copywriter Beck Deng. Creative Director Guo Jun. Photographer Zhang Chao. Head of LEGO Agency Asia Annie Boo. Senior Project Manager Jingjing Zhang. Business Partnering & Ops Director Violet Wang. Project Manager Venice Choy. Senior Communication Strategist Charlene Li. Senior Content Strategist Momo Chen. SVP, Head of Our LEGO Agency Nicole Taylor. VP, Head of Creative Carlo Cavallone.