Gallery: Japan's Minimalist Version of Lego Is Actually Awesome
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Tokyo-based architecture firm Kengo Kuma and Associates made its own, minimalist version of Lego bricks.
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Unlike standard Lego bricks, which are plastic, Tsumiki pieces are made from Japanese cedar.
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And unlike the brick-shaped Lego blocks, Tsumiki blocks are shaped like little letter “A”s without their crossbars.
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Tsumiki means "building blocks," and has been around in Japan forever. Traditionally, however, those blocks are exactly that: blocks of wood without mechanisms for snapping together.
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Kuma’s Tsumiki are more in line with the principles of contemporary Japanese architecture.
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Plus, they follow one of the most basic rules of geometry, that the triangle is the strongest shape.
