Like good typography, toy blocks are pure eye candy, with the added benefit of tactile and constructive engagement. While there is a long history of toy blocks of various materials, this post will concern itself with modern and contemporary ones made of wood. Blocks from these periods are particularly appealing as many are the products of talented graphic designers. Underlying these well-executed designs is the innate appeal of simple geometric shapes to the human mind (right, Parmenides?).
Welcome (back, I hope) to another post from A Year in the Library, wherein you may read pseudo-exhibition catalogues that were never published to shows that were never held at a museum that doesn’t exist (outside of my home, that is).
To my eye (without having researched it much) the designs of many of these blocks were heavily influenced by the Avant-garde toys of Ladislav Sutnar, especially his 1946 prototype, Build the Town. Take a look and see if you agree...
Just one book about blocks
Ladislav Sutnar Inspiration for Children. 2015
Spiral bound book by Steven Heller. Západočeská univerzita v Plzni. About 22 x 22 cm.
This is a beautifully-designed activity book that highlights the work in several media of the Czech/American artist Ladislav Sutnar. Of relevance to this post is the inclusion of a paper DIY version of his Build the Town blocks.
Original drawings for the Build the Town design and accompanying DIY patterns.
The 1946 wood prototype.
It’s a block world after all...
Not only do blocks vary from designer to designer, but also across national aesthetics. While blocks are basic elements of the toy repertoire, many nations produce their own versions which reflect their country’s intrinsic design sensibilities. Here are but a few.
GERMAN BLOCKS
Build a Skyscraper. c. 1950?
Juri. 27 stamped blocks. Box about 12 x 4 cm.
With this city in a matchbox, you can hold an entire metropolis in your hand. Or, I suppose, build your own Bottled City of Kandor.
Included are a few wonderfully not-to-scale cars to imbue your diorama with a sense of urban hustle and bustle.
Admit it: you’re thinking the same thing as I- the only thing missing is a giant monster to knock them all down...
Bausteine Cordoba. c. 2010
Haba. 15 colored blocks. Box about 38 x 28 cm.
Haba started as a family-owned business just prior to World War Two. It has survived geopolitical conflicts both hot and cold to produce beautiful wooden toys including these. Designed by Ines Frömelt, this set looks like the fanciful love child of Antoni Gaudí and Theodore Gissel.
Don’t all the buildings in Barcelona look like this?
DUTCH BLOCKS
Brick Set No. 2. 1952
Sioliet. 28 colored blocks. Box about 21 x 18 cm.
This one’s worth it for the box cover alone. Are you surprised to learn that it’s the work of a graduate of the Royal Academy of Art in The Hague? Rokus van Blokland and his partner Corry van Blokland Mobach engaged in numerous design projects over decades which thankfully included wooden toys.
Even in the box, the simple shapes form an appealing mosaic.
A rich and deep palette sets these blocks apart from many of their primary-hued contemporaries.
ITALIAN BLOCKS
Scatola di Architettura N. 1. 2018 reissue of the 1945 original.
Edizioni Corraini. 66 natural blocks. Box about 44 x 13 cm.
Created by the Italian artist and graphic designer Bruno Bunari, this set is the epitome of Futurismo.
Munari distilled the elements of modernism to just six shapes.
He frequently used books as a medium to express his design concepts and the instruction booklet is no exception.
A few of the structures populating Muari’s metropolis.
It’s impossible not to create beautiful modernist buildings with these blocks.
AMERICAN BLOCKS
Building Blocks. c. 1940
Block-House Toy Company. 56 printed wood blocks. Box about 28 x 29 cm.
From the late 19th century to the Depression, Toledo, Ohio was a center of toy production in America. Although produced earlier than the other blocks described in this post, this set serves as a visual reference point for subsequent designs.
A pleasing jumble of colors and patterns.
An interesting combination of folksy and urban designs.
Architectural Blocks. c. 1960
American Science & Engineering. 19 natural wood blocks. Loose.
This set was acquired from a dealer who cited the blocks’ origin as American Science & Engineering, a Boston-based defense contractor that studied the effects of nuclear explosions. If the provenance is accurate, then it may be that these blocks were originally used in some exhibition or diorama. Perhaps it would be prudent to run a Geiger counter over them sometime...
A mid-century tableau.
Archiblocks Post Modern. 1989 (?)
Bower Studios. 73 natural blocks. Box about 20 x 24 cm.
In the late 1980s Archiblocks were marketed as the only wooden architectural blocks produced in the United States. Archiblocks’ designer Ron Bower started with classical Greek and Roman-themed sets and then branched out to include Egyptian, Gothic, Santa Fe, Japanese, and Post-Modern ones.
Definitely PoMo, Bro.
In your dreams, Brunelleschi!
Archiquest: Empire and Arches. 2007.
T.S. Sure. 65 printed paper-covered blocks. Box about 40 x 31 cm.
The design from this Chicago-based toy manufacture uses printed paper overlays to enliven their wooden blocks, allowing them to issue differently themed sets by simply changing the patterns. This Roman set includes caryatids and frescoes. Marmoream relinquo, quam latericiam accepi. Would you settle for lignum?
Eat your heart out, Octavius!
Accompanying the blocks is a small 46-page hardcover book of design ideas.
The book includes a nice overview of architectural elements.
Blockitecture Brutalism. 2014 (?)
Areaware. 10 natural/colored blocks. Box about 19 x 19 cm.
This set is part of a series of urban-themed blocks designed by James Paulius and produced by Areaware. Paulius’ unique hexagonal blocks allow for interesting stacking combinations. With these blocks, you can create your own version of a Soviet-Era concrete edifice.
Homage to Brutalism in a set of blocks!
Fun to play with but I’m not sure I’d want to live there...
FRENCH BLOCKS
Bloc Ville. c. 2018 (?)
Moulin Roty. 40 colored and printed blocks. Box is about 26 x 16 cm.
This set, designed by Aurélien Début, is part of Moulin Roty’s 'Dans La Ville' Collection which includes wooden toys and rubber stamp kits. All aspects of the toy’s elements have a wonderful design sensibility about them.
Every element of this set beautifully composed, even the box inserts which illustrate how the blocks should be replaced.
The blocks mix solid colors with printed patterns for contrasting design elements.
The “instruction” manual itself is worthy of a poster.
Pure chromatic joy.
ENGLISH BLOCKS
BlockHaus. 2016 (?)
Miller Goodman. 40 colored and printed blocks. Box about 26 x 23 cm.
The name says it all for this set designed by Zoe Miller and David Goodman. You can let your Bauhaus sensibilities run wild with these clean-lined beauties.
A nice combination of natural wood, solid colors, and tight patterns.
An inspired guide accompanies the blocks.
Remembrance of Sutnar’s Past?
POLISH BLOCKS
Manhattan. 2018 (?)
Bajo. 54 printed blocks. Box about 25 x 25 cm.
This urban playset was designed by Wojciech Bajor and allows the user to try their hand at being a New York City real estate developer. What could go wrong?
The urban theme is contrasted by a pastel palette.
A base is included to help maintain strict adherence to state and city building codes.
SWEDISH BLOCKS
City Blocks Aiden. 2018 (?)
Kid’s Concept. 21 colored and natural blocks. Box about 31 x 21 cm.
The blocks in this set are designed by Lotta Hallenius and have a Nordic folk art sensibility to them. They seem more conducive to building residential structures than civic or industrial edifices.
The palette here is composed of muted earth tones.
Whereas many of the sets exhibited here were designed for children and adults, this set is targeted towards small children with its large and simple shapes.
It’s never too early or too late to start playing with blocks. I hope at least one of the images above inspires you to design or build something of your own.
Thank you for visiting.
de Gustibus
“Nothing is but what is not.”