While he was a kid, Italian artist Leonardo Ugolini enjoyed building sandcastles during his trips to the beach like most children. And he didn’t let growing up stop him from enjoying this fun activity. As a matter of fact, Ugolini managed to turn this childhood passion into a profession.
Ugolini has been building sand sculptures for the past 30 years, recreating famous buildings, architecture from fantasy worlds, mythical creatures, pop culture objects, and much more. Some of his past works include sandcastle inspired by Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry from Harry Potter, a replica of Millennium Falcon from Star Wars, and sand tower of Mordor from The Lord of the Rings.
Despite working with an unstable material, Ugolini usually opts for grandiose pieces that can take several weeks to complete. He recently even broke the world record for the biggest sandcastle in the world, creating a 69.4 feet (21.16 meters) tall sculpture in Denmark.
Ugolini’s sandcastles have been received a lot of attention on social media, with many of his sculptures becoming viral in a short amount of time. The positive response inspired the artist to start sharing videos on YouTube that show his creative process and contain tips about working with the sand.
His incredibly realistic and detailed works have found a home all around the world and are regularly featured at international events and festivals. Check out more of them below.
