San Jose Tech will open the public to watch the toppling of 40,000 dominoes today at 1 p.m.

Alex Huang looks over the 40,000-piece domino structure his team built this week in the lobby of Tech Interactive in San Jose, Calif., Friday, July 12, 2024. California’s largest kinetic domino structure is scheduled to be dismantled at 1 p.m. Saturday as part of the 9th annual Tech Topple. (Carl Mondon/Bay Area News Group)

With just hours left before it all came crashing down, Alex Huang of San Jose stopped in the lobby of Tech Interactive on Friday to admire the 40,000-piece playground he and a team of eight builders had constructed.

Probably in preparation for an earthquake that could happen overnight.

Huang, a prominent member of the domino and machine-building community known as Flash Domino, was just 16 when he launched San Jose’s first Tech Topple in 2016. Last year he built a miniature city called Topple Town, made of 20,000 dominoes, that took more than five minutes to destroy.

This year’s theme is Kinetic Carnival, and it features a chain reaction machine inspired by Midway Games, bumper cars and even a Ferris wheel — with twice as many dominoes as Topple Town. Nine builders joined Huang this week to build the park, including professional chain reaction artist Lyle Broughton and former domino world record holder Erez Klein.

The removal will take place Saturday at 1 p.m. sharp at The Tech in San Jose, 201 S. Market St. Museum officials are expecting a large crowd and encourage people to arrive early.