The LEGO® Star Wars™ “Death Star After Dark” Turned Nostalgia Into an After-Hours Experience

The LEGO® Group set the bar astronomically high with an interactive experience inside New York City’s ARTECHOUSE in Chelsea. The brand took guests inside a reimagined space where the galaxy’s most infamous battle station was a cultural playground for adults who never lost their sense of wonder. On Friday, November 7, larger-than-life custom LEGO spacecraft sculptures, cosmic projections and the hum of conversation between sneakerheads, creatives and lifelong Star Wars fans all orbited around the new 9,000-piece LEGO® Star Wars™ Death Star™ set.

Walking inside ARTECHOUSE felt like transporting through hyperspace. The floor-to-ceiling visuals of galaxies and hyperspace jumps set the tone, while a token handed at check-in hinted at mystery to come. Guests drifted between glowing display plinths that exemplified the vision and creative magnitude of Star Wars LEGO builds as art. You had the Ultimate Collectors Series sets displayed, along with striking Millennium Falcons and X-Wings presented like museum pieces. In the middle of it all, the Death Star dominated the room, glowing under its own halo of projection light. The epic collector’s piece was the night’s main attraction, representing patience, craft and play, reinterpreted for a new generation of builders.

The crowd itself mirrored the event’s creative energy with a dress code that called for “cyberpunk-meets-galactic.” And guests abided by the memo, bringing out a wave of futuristic threads, dark silhouettes and even avant garde eyewear, making the whole space feel like a scene straight out of Coruscant’s coolest nightclub.

Between build stations and photo moments, there was also a rare kind of social alchemy where people were bonding not over bottle service, but over bricks. One moment you were learning to snap together make-and-take builds of iconic characters like Yoda, Princess Leia and Darth Vader, the next, you were cheering as someone’s token hit the jackpot at the claw machine, winning a full LEGO Death Star set.

The incomparable DJ Odalys also provided soundtracks that matched the vibe, spinning genre-hopping mixes that bridged hip-hop, reggaeton and house, while a surprise appearance by Ezinma wowed the crowd with a beautiful soundscape. The violinist and film composer, known by the name Meredith Ezinma Charles, brought new meaning to the concept of world-building, with an intimate performance that blended sonic emotion with engrossing, cinematic displays.

For food and libations, drinks like the “Cantina Cooler” and “Force Flow” flowed through the crowd, served alongside hors d’oeuvres with names that winked at the fandom (May the S’mores Be With You was an instant favorite).

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By the end of the night, it was clear that “Death Star After Dark” was about reinterpreting nostalgia for a generation of LEGO and Star Wars fans. In a time when pop culture often lives through screens, LEGO created something tactile and profoundly communal. The Death Star—once a symbol of destruction—became a symbol of creation, rebuilt brick by brick amongst New York’s coolest creatives.

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