The Art of the Brick, an exhibition of New York-based artist, Nathan Sawaya's, will be on view from June 16 through September 5 at the Michele and Donald D'Amour Museum of Fine Arts.
The Art of the Brick features 29 whimsical three-dimensional works created from nearly one million colorful pieces of Lego. This was reviewed in yesterday's AK Files. Today we explore Lego history.
As always, ARTKABINETT savvy collectors like to know a little bit about the provenance of our independent collections.
In 1932, Ole Kirk Christiansen, master carpenter and joiner in the village of Billund, Denmark, sets up business. His firm manufactures stepladders, ironing boards - and wooden toys.
In 1934 the company and its products now take on the name LEGO, which is formed from the Danish words "LEgGOdt" ("play well").
In 1947 the LEGO company is Denmark's first to buy a plastic injection-molding machine for making toys. In 1949 the company produces about 200 different plastic and wooden toys, including Automatic Binding Bricks, a forerunner of the LEGO bricks we know today.
In 1955 after further developing the LEGO Bricks, the company launches the revolutionary "LEGO System of Play": 28 sets and 8 vehicles.
It also sells supplementary elements. In 1958 the current LEGO stud-and-tube coupling system is invented and patented.
The new coupling principle makes models much more stable. The possible combinations of bricks run into astronomical figures.
Introduced in the United States in 1962, the first LEGOs came in loose sets of bricks. By 1966, however, LEGO kits were guiding young hard hats in snapping together all kinds of buildings, trucks, planes, and ships.
The LEGO Group expanded its audience with the 1969 addition of the DUPLO line of big bricks for preschoolers and, in 1977, the TECHNIC line of sophisticated projects for older kids and teens. Within the last decade, an active online community of LEGO fans has developed new designs and drawing programs in which new constructions can be recorded.
In 1998, LEGO introduced LEGO SCALA Planet, a kit specially designed for girls that combines the company's traditional construction elements with a family of dolls and fashion accessories, a magazine, and an interactive Web site.
LEGO came to the United States during some of the coldest years of the Cold War, a period that also saw a heightened interest in education and toys that could teach.
U.S. leaders exhorted schools to start turning out scientists and mathematicians, who were seen as key combatants in the arms and space races with the Soviet Union.
In the spirit of the times, LEGO promised that its bricks would "develop the child's critical judgment, manual dexterity, and ability to think for himself." Itís no accident that the words "LEGO" and "imagination" often pop up together.
The bright, colorful plastic bricks can be joined in countless combinations and have been a favorite with kids, parents, and teachers since their introduction in 1958.
Unlike Erector Sets and Tinkertoys, which appeal more to older children, LEGO bricks are loved by builders of all ages, even infants more interested in knocking down than in building.
Today, LEGO offers enthusiasts of all ages and visual interests the opportunity to create playful and controversial sculptural objects -- stationary or mobile.
Billund Headquarters
Primary concept and development work takes place at the Billund, Denmark, where the company employs approximately 120 designers.
The company also has smaller design offices in the UK, Spain, Germany, and Japan, which are tasked with developing products aimed specifically at these markets.
The average development period for a new product is around twelve months, in three stages. The first stage is to identify market trends and developments, including contact by the designers directly with the market; some are stationed in toy shops close to holiday periods, while others interview children.
The second stage is the design and development of the product based upon the results of the first stage.
As of September 2008 the design teams use 3D modeling software such as Rhinoceros 3D to generate CAD drawings from initial design sketches.
The designs are then prototyped using an in-house stereolithography machine.
These are presented to the entire project team for comment and for testing by parents and children during the "validation" process.
Designs may then be altered in accordance with the results from the focus groups. Virtual models of completed Lego products are built concurrently with the writing of the user instructions.
Completed CAD models are also used in the wider organization, such as for marketing and packaging. Also the naming of the bricks such as 2x3 or 4x4 was made by intelligent children who tried describing the materials they used to create such a "invention".
Since 1963, Lego pieces have been manufactured from a strong, resilient plastic known as acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS).
As of September 2008, the engineers use the NX CAD/CAM/CAE PLM software suite to model the elements. The software allows the parts to be optimized by way of mold flow and stress analysis. Prototype molds are sometimes built before the design is committed to mass production.
The molds are permitted a tolerance of up to two thousandths of a millimeter (2×10−6 m), to ensure the bricks remain connected. Human inspectors check the output of the molds, to eliminate significant variations in color or thickness. Worn-out molds are encased in the foundations of buildings to prevent them from falling into competitors' hands.
According to the Lego Group, about eighteen bricks out of every million fail to meet the standard required. Lego factories recycle all but about 1 percent of their plastic waste from the manufacturing process every year. If the plastic can't be re-used in Lego bricks, it's processed and sold to industries that can make use of it.
Manufacturing of Lego bricks occurs at a number of locations around the world. Molding is done at one of two plants in Denmark and Czech Republic. Brick decorations and packaging are done at plants in Denmark, the United States, Mexico and the Czech Republic.
The Lego company estimates that in the course of five decades it has sold some 400 billion Lego blocks. Annual production of Lego bricks averages approximately 20 billion (2×1010) per year, or about 600 pieces per second:if all the Lego bricks ever produced were to be divided equally among a world population of six billion, each person would have 62 Lego bricks
