Q-BA-MAZE

Design Thinking with Cubes, Components, and Constructions

The photo above shows the design called Q50/plan01 disassembled into several components. The components are made from two or more cubes, and these components can be rearranged into new marble run constructions.

If you take a close look at the plan that comes with each 50-pack or at this plan from the Q-BA-MAZE website, you can see which cubes make each of the components shown in the top photo:

• Cubes 1-7 are the "base" (front middle in the photo)*
• Cubes 8-11 are a "4-cube scrambler" (back row, far right in photo)
• Cubes 12-22 are a "9-cube scrambler" with a "2-cube switch back" on top (back row, second from right in photo)
• Cubes 23-34 are a "double helix" (back row, third from right in photo)
• Cubes 35-36 are a "2-cube column" (back row, far left in photo)

* This "base" composed of cubes 1-7 is good stable starting point for any new construction.

The photo below shows Q50/plan01 on the left and a completely new construction on the right made from the same components just rearranged in a new order. Working with components like this is a faster way to design and build new constructions compared with building one cube at a time. An understanding of components will also assist your design thinking as you imagine your own new constructions.

Have fun inventing and building with Q-BA-MAZE!

A 20-Pack Design with Three Jumps

This is my new favorite marble run construction with the 20-pack. The features I like are:

• The base is just one bottom-exit cube.
• There are jumps out of each of the three double-exit cubes.
• An upper part of the structure appears to float (the weight of the construction does not come straight down through a column, but is diverted in a mini-spiral).

If you would like to build this construction:

• You can try just copying this construction by looking at the photo.
• You can follow this plan (which comes in pdf format).
• You can follow this Excel plan (see the post on Q-BA-CAD to learn more about using Microsoft Excel as "CAD" software for drawing, saving, and emailing your Q-BA-MAZE designs).

(If you make this one, remember the trick to get the balls out: just slide the construction to the edge of the table with one hand and catch the balls in your other hand.)

Cantilevers, Counter-balance, Components and other Craziness

This post provides some design ideas for making your own marble run structures.

This photo above shows a blue "straight-away" component cantilevering to the left, while a green "straight-away" component counter-balances the structure by cantilevering back to the right.

In this post, I illustrate a number of different "components" that can be built into a complete construction. I use the base configuration from Q20/plan03 (cubes 1-6) and then 4 blue single-exit cubes and 4 green single-exit cubes to create the various components.

This is a six-cube "zig-zag" component. Each green cube makes a right-turn and each blue cube makes a left-turn. The left-right-left pattern makes the zig-zag. An eight-cube "zig-zag" would have required further cubes on the opposite side as a counter-balance.

This is an eight-cube "switch-back" component. Each single exit-cube aims the pathway back under the previous single-exit cube. The result is very stable tower form that is just one cube wide and two-cubes deep.

This is an eight-cube "switch-back helix" component. The blue single-exit cubes each rotate 90 degrees with respect to the blue cube above. The green single-exit cubes aim the pathway back under the previous blue single-exit cube. The result is what appears to be a central blue column wrapped with a sporadic green helix.

This is an eight-cube "1x3 switch-back" component. The component is one cube wide and three cubes deep. The pathway goes straight through two cubes and then the third cube bends the path back under the previous two cubes. The set of four green cubes could be rotated 90 degrees with respect to the blue cubes and then you'd have a "rotating 1x3 switch-back".

This is a six-cube "straight-away" component. The two cubes on the left are necessary to counter-balance the weight of the "straight-away" as it leans far out to the right. It is not necessary for a structure to be symmetrical to have balance. There just needs to be enough weight to keep things from tipping. As you get more daring with your own designs, you'll have to experiment with trial and error. If your structure falls down, you probably went beyond some physical limit. Pushing these limits is part of the fun!

This is an eight-cube "helix" component. More specifically, this is a "2x2 counter-clockwise single-helix." Each cube turns the pathway to the left as it goes down, so the pathway spins counter-clockwise. If each cube turned the path to the right, it would be a clockwise helix. Looking at this helix from above, it fits on a 2x2 cube grid.

This is an eight-cube "2x2 counter-clockwise double-helix" component. It is much like the single-helix, but a second helix fills in the empty cantilevered spaces of the first helix. Here, one helix is green and the other is blue. DNA is a double-helix. Question: Is the DNA double-helix clockwise or counter-clockwise? and why?

This is an eight-cube "3x3 counter-clockwise double-helix." The two helixes will never touch. Double-exit cubes can be used occasionally as a "3x3 double-helix" is built as a means of connecting and stabilizing the two pathways. Cube #34 in Q50/plan01 is a double-exit cube used in this way.

This is an eight-cube "3x3 counter-clockwise single-helix."

The list of components goes on and on. Take a look at the post on 10 Billion Trillion Combinations and you will get an idea of just how many configurations are possible.

Have fun experimenting and exploring and finding the coolest components for your crazy constructions!

Why Cantilever? Example #1

Below is a Google Streetview of the Minneapolis Central Public Library by Cesar Pelli.

CLICK HERE to explore all sides of the Library via Google Maps (hint: move the little orange man to NICOLLET MALL and rotate the view to look back at the Library to see how the roof cantilevers on the other side as well)

Here is a night time view of the roof cantilevering out over Hennepin Avenue (a main thoroughfare in the city).

REASONS FOR THE CANTILEVER

1) This roof clearly announces the location of the entrances on either side of this public building. The roof grabs a person's attention and leads the eye to the entryway. The Library is sort of two separate buildings with a glass enclosed public space in between them. This huge cantilevering metal roof shelters this public space between the two halves of the Library. In this photo looking straight up from under the cantilever, you can look all the way through the glass-enclosed public space and out the other side of the Library. The entry vestibule on this side of the building doubles as a heated bus shelter. If you look closely on the ground level on the right, you can see what is probably the best selection and display of bus maps in the city. A coffee shop in the corresponding position on the opposite side of the building provides another bit of street level activity -- something sorely missing in Minneapolis generally, but sensitively planned for here. I think it is this combination of bold form and sensitive planning which makes this an already much-loved building in the city.

2) From a distance, this roof announces the location of the building itself. From many blocks away, the roof can be seen jutting out over the street. Special clearances from the city were necessary to allow this. Because this is a public destination, it makes sense for such a variance from regulations to be granted.

3) This roof provides horizontal counterpoint in a vertical city. The buildings behind the library are vertically oriented and reaching for the sky. The Library takes up a full city block, so it can have quite a bit of square footage without having to grow so tall. Without the cantilevering roof, the Library would just be a short building. The roof, however, emphasizes its horizontality.

4) Contextualism: The roof has a relationship to regional culture. Frank Lloyd Wright pioneered this idea of boldly cantilevered roofs in his Prairie Style houses, most notably, in the Robie House. Wright's idea was that on the flat landscape of the prairie, a roof should emphasize the horizontal. The roof of the Library, interestingly, is like an upside down version of the hip roof of the Robie House.

5) Contextualism (part 2): The Library and the Wells Fargo Building, both by Pelli, are a study in comparison and contrast. The Wells Fargo building can be seen in the photos as a glowing amber tower in the background. It has a stone facade with strong vertical elements that mimic the vertical column structure behind. The Library has a similar stone facade, but it emphasizes the horizontal instead by rimming each of the floor plates and thus highlighting a different structural component of the building. Pelli established an architectural vocabulary in the earlier Wells Fargo Building and is both repeating and adjusting it in the Library. The cantilevered roof participates in this dialogue between the two buildings.

I shot the photos of the Library at night because there is an optical illusion at night that makes the cantilever appear to be far longer than it really is. Since the roof is not too heavy, the columns supporting it can be slender and from a distance they sort of disappear.

Next buildings in this series on cantilevers are the new Walker Art Center by Herzog and De Meuron and the new Guthrie Theater by Jean Nouvel. Eventually, I'll also make a post about ways people can experiment with their own cantilevers using the Q-BA-MAZE cubes.

National Parenting Center Seal of Approval

Q-BA-MAZE has been awarded the 2007 National Parenting Center Seal of Approval.

Here is their review:

The Q-BA-MAZE bowled over our testers with its super cool design and wonderfully written and illustrated instructions. In no time both parents and children were making mazes into which they dropped their marbles over and over again. Parents told us that the loved watching their children working out creative patterns to build. The simple clarity of the instructions drew raves from all our testers. From a value perspective, the top-notch quality of the design really impressed as did the replay factor which was off the charts. Once this toy was opened it became a playtime magnet for kids of all ages.

To see this and other reviews, visit the National Parenting Center website

http://tnpc.com/search/tnpcarticle2.asp?rec=5644