Bricks and rocks are the ultimate reusable building components. Because they are super durable and also heavy, which means they are hard to transport. So you can find examples of their reuse everywhere. Bricks, paving slabs, column elements… they find a second life. But can they take on a different function in the process?
Yes, there are fancy ‘hipster furniture’ pieces or clever everyday hacks that repurpose building blocks. That’s a start. Let’s collect them and invent even more! Do you have ideas or suggestions? Which blocks and bricks? What use cases? What… architectures 💥
… can we make work as truly multipurpose parts?
↓
MULTIPURPOSE PARTS? Quick Check Box
Ikego is not about objects, but about the parts you build them from. We search for highly universal parts that can be creatively reused and recombined in many ways for many objects.
Many ore maybe ♾️ objects from just a couple of parts?
This is the Ikego experiment.
We use construction toy systems as a metaphor because they are simple and easy to understand, which enables creative expression and collaboration. The brick system perfected by the LEGO company or erector sets come to mind as examples.
… a wall, a door, ⟳ a face, pavement, ⟳ a flower pot, a bucket …
… a wall, a leg, a pillar, a chassis, a screen, a handle …
„There is no trash in a LEGO room.“ Neil Gershenfeld (MIT, Center for bits and atoms), source
✼
How to create them? Here is one possible way:
▷ 1 Start with the object you want to build. Create a useful solution. And make sure your parts work for it.
Experiments with the Ikego system go back quite a while. In the beginning, we tried to create multipurpose parts first – we guessed – and then tried to build objects with them. That approach failed. The parts weren’t useful, the objects didn’t work. We only made progress once we flipped the process—starting with the objects and deriving the parts from them. For us, starting with the parts simply didn’t work. While this may not be a strict rule for everyone, it’s a perspective maybe worth considering.
↓
▷ 2 Find at least two alternate use cases for each part used. If you can’t find any, redesign the part until you can, and go back to step 1 ↑.
There is a famous story from the LEGO design department. When designer Mike Psiaki was tasked with designing the Porsche model (10295), he struggled to perfectly capture the curve at the rear end using existing LEGO parts. The element designer Yoel Mazur suggested introducing a new part into the catalog specifically for this purpose. However, Mike Psiaki was determined to find a solution using existing pieces. Despite this, the element designer created a new part anyway, which indeed solved the problem perfectly. Subsequently, all designers in the department were given time to play with this new part to see if there were any good ‘nice part usages’ (alternative applications) for it. At LEGO, before a new piece is approved for production, it has to demonstrate its ‘system-wide’ value, ensuring it isn’t just a specialized solution for one specific car. They tested if it is truly a multipurpose part. The result was a clear yes! Following this test, the part made it into the system. Today, there are indeed many applications for it.
✼
When you introduce new parts and perhaps new ways to connect them, try to find solutions that open new lanes for the overall flexibility of the system. Ideally you find something that works well in combination with existing parts. Tolerance is key. If something requires specific diameters or dimensions that cannot be replicated with hand tools, it is a slight disadvantage. However, this is not a dealbreaker. In such cases, try to use solutions that already exist on the market and are widely used → Hack Into Existing Systems! Ideally, these are common, easily accessible, standardized, well-documented, and already open (with expired patents). – Ikego is not about reinventing the wheel. It’s about finding wheels that fit.
–
That’s it!
Btw. if you want to learn more, we also shared a white paper about design with multipurpose parts.
🌱
inspiration for “Bricks & Rocks”
Beginnings
parts in Bricks & Rocks
See Sets →