Mother-son duo from Barrington building bonds on ‘Lego Masters’

Luke Horwath was 5 when he got his first Lego set.

He sat with his mother, Anne, at their kitchen table, bonding as they created a car and a helicopter. He’s been building ever since.

The Barrington mother and son are competitors in season five of “Lego Masters,” a national competition television series hosted by Will Arnett. While filming has wrapped, viewers know that so far the Horwaths are still in the running.

On the show, teams of two Lego enthusiasts take part in challenges, building massive complex creations and crafting captivating stories to win $100,000 and the “Lego Masters” title. New episodes air at 7 p.m. Mondays on FOX.

“The Super Bowl for football is the biggest event of the year for the sport, and ‘Lego Masters’ is the biggest event of the year for the Lego community,” Luke said. “This is absolutely a dream come true.”

Facing off against some of the best builders in the world, Anne and Luke’s skills were put to the test.

“We each bring something unique to the table and therefore make a great pairing,” Luke said. “I bring the motion and mechanisms, and my mom brings the creativity and the design flair.”

Luke, a mechanical engineering student at the University of Notre Dame in Indiana, specializes in interactive and engaging large-scale builds.

“Ironically, my love of building with Lego bricks is what made me want to pursue mechanical engineering in the first place because I love the creativity,” he said.

Anne and Luke were more than familiar with the show before being invited to compete.

“We’ve watched every single episode as a family,” Luke said. “It’s very cool to have been a superfan going into the show and now being on it — the path toward a master builder.”

Competing on the show felt bigger, brighter, bolder and more challenging but also more fun than watching it at home, Anne said.

“The Lego community, including this ‘Lego Masters’ community, is incredibly giving of their time, their talent and their treasure,” she said. “The opportunity and the sharing of ideas was extraordinary.”

One of Luke’s favorite moments from the show occurred during Episode 2. Teams were tasked with making a Lego wedding cake with a twist — the tallest build is immediately safe from elimination.

“It was incredibly nerve-wracking,” he said. “There was a lot of pressure, not just on me, but on my team, because I knew that if the spire didn’t measure up, it would have been all on me and I would have let the team down.”

He was relieved when the final build measured 9 feet and 1 inch, setting a show record.

Another memorable moment for the duo took place on Episode 3.

During the episode, Anne ran to the “brick pit,” which supplies millions of Lego pieces for the teams. On the way, she tripped and fell, crashing to the floor and spilling thousands of Legos.

“The important thing to take away from my experience is when you get knocked down in life, you get back up and you get back to work,” she said.

Luke said he is grateful for his experience on the show and the chance to compete with his mom.

“I wouldn’t want to be there with anyone else,” he said. “Beyond all of the Lego bricks, beyond all the challenges, beyond all the competitors, my favorite part of being on ‘Lego Masters’ was spending a lot of quality time with my mom.”

Luke has been testing his building skills for years. In middle school, he made his first custom Lego creation after sustaining an ankle injury, which sidelined him from playing sports.

“Looking for other things to do, my mom said, ‘Luke, build me a Lego beach,” he said. “So I sat down and built basically a 10-inch by 10-inch Lego beach layout.”

As Luke recovered, the Lego beach diorama expanded into a 63-square-foot Lego city that took up an entire room. He later exhibited his city at Brickworld Chicago, a Lego convention in Schaumburg, in 2017.

His creations include Lego roller coasters, a working claw machine and a LeGoKart — a life-size, drivable go-kart. He also built the first life-size, fully operational Lego Batman pinball machine, which was displayed at Brickworld Chicago in 2019.

He’ll return to the convention for his sixth year on June 14-15, showcasing a mechanized Lego amusement park layout with three motorized rides among other creations.

“Being on ‘Lego Masters’ gave me a better appreciation for learning new techniques and learning how people build things,” he said. “I love having that outlet to build creatively, and whether that manifests itself in a potential career in the future, time will tell.”