Rubik puzzles over toy’s enduring appeal
Print Edition
THE Rubik’s Cube is among the world’s most popular and well-known toys. But few are aware though that this iconic puzzle game was designed as a classroom tool by Hungarian sculptor and architecture professor Erno Rubik in the 1970s.
The 72-year-old has recently arrived in China for the first time for the Shanghai leg of “Beyond Rubik’s Cube,” a touring exhibition that honors Rubik and his famous hexahedron.
“Problem is a good thing,” Rubik says of his invention during a talk with local media. “It’s part of nature. Without a problem, this will be a problem for me.”
With the toy that bears his name, Rubik became one of the world’s biggest “problem creators.” He has also applied his famous creation in fields ranging from science and education to fashion and music composition.
Apart from presenting cubes designed by Rubik and his followers, the exhibition encourages visitors to create puzzle cubes themselves. Nearly 20 interactive stations get visitors, especially children, involved.
“The cube is capable of inspiring. We turn the cube and it twists us,” says Rubik.
“Knowledge is heavy. Sometimes it limits people from having new ideas. That’s the problem of old schooling, because it teaches answers. I believe questions are more important than the answers,” he adds.
As the son of an aviation engineer and a poet, Rubik was born with creativity in his genes. His first cube was designed to be a classroom aid when he was teaching architecture at the Budapest College of Applied Arts in 1974. At the Shanghai exhibition, visitors can see the very first Rubik’s Cube, which is made of wood, paper clips and rubber bands.
Rubik set out to create a structure which would allow individual pieces to move without the whole structure falling apart. Based on the enthusiastic response of his students, Rubik decided to manufacture the cube and spread its appeal to a larger audience.
The product became a global phenomenon in the 1980s, winning several Toy of the Year awards. Over 350 million Rubik’s Cubes have been sold worldwide, making it the best selling toy of all time.
“Where did I get the inspiration to make a cube? That’s the question I had been asked the most, but I still find it difficult to answer,” says Rubik. “Everything can inspire us, and it depends on our interests, and whether we can see hidden things. I am inspired by nature, and the whole universe.
“Also, people are inspired by past experiences, their interests and encounters. For me, I like reading, drawing, solving puzzles problems and mathematics, etc. This kind of person can achieve lots of things if he is lucky. And I am the lucky one.”
Rubik says there are two ways to solve the Cube — to follow instructions, or to do without them. He favors the latter approach.
“After collecting experience, you create your own method of solving puzzles. Only when you discover something instead of being taught, it becomes your own. You learn not only the solution, but how to find solutions. The most important thing is a strong will (to do something),” he tells Shanghai Daily.
Rubik believes the Cube’s lessons are personal as well.
“The Cube teaches us to accept ourselves. We do what we can and go to the limits, but shall not go further,” he says.
Despite Rubik’s copyright, similar cubes have been manufactured by countless makers around the world. This doesn’t bother the Hungarian too much.
“You are lucky if you have a copyright problem, because unsuccessful products won’t have such a problem,” says Rubik. “Copyright mainly involves original ideas and the artistic part, but when it comes to products and technology, it’s a different and tricky thing. Also it’s a huge expense (to fight and protect the rights) and complicated because laws are different in each country. I’m just happy to see more people and kids play with the cubes. It’s a good feeling.”
Asked whether he ever encountered a cube puzzle that he could not solve himself, Rubik gives a mysterious smile.
“If I can’t solve the puzzle today, it doesn’t mean that I can’t solve it when I pick it up one year later. If a problem is set by human being, it is solvable by human being,” he says.
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