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As a kid I was extremely lucky to grow up during a time when construction toys were particularly popular. In fact, I strongly believe that the reason why I thought later of becoming an architect has its roots on one of my favorite toys of all times, named LEGO. Indeed, the ancient Greek philosopher Plato wrote that the future architect should play at building houses as a child.

Being a construction toy, LEGO is a line of toys featuring colorful plastic bricks, gears, minifigures, among other pieces, which can be assembled to create models of almost anything imaginable. My brother and I have spent countless hours constructing castles, bridges, cars, planes, trains, building, ships, roads, or even robots with which we played around and were happy to exchange.

The LEGO pieces, produced by the Lego Group, a privately-held company based in Denmark, fit perfectly together and depending on the kids' imagination they can take almost any shape possible. Referring to the bricks themselves as "Legos," my brother, our friends and I were always ready to begin our construction marathons that ended when every single brick was placed on one of our constructions.

These types of construction sets have evolved to all time classics and LEGO building blocks have long been an appreciable child pastime. I recall with nostalgia the time when my brother collected all the pieces from the floor in order to use them later at his own pile that no block would be left unused.

LEGO was perhaps the most important toy we shared with my brother. Even if I am not a boy, the hobby of constructing these models was shared by my brother and me, and I believe by men and women of all ages. Since one of the things I enjoy most is working with my hands, construction sets, like LEGO, appealed to me greatly during childhood. Even today if I visit a friend's child, I always pay a visit to their play room, since the constructions they have left unfinished "magically" are completed by the time I have to walk out their house door.