Our Story

Art in every way you shape it.

As an architect, I've spent my career thinking about how spaces shape the way we live, learn and connect. But some of the most important lessons about design don't begin in architecture school or the workplace—they begin in childhood, through play.

When I became a father, I found myself searching for building toys that felt as thoughtful and enduring as the objects we choose to surround ourselves with as adults. I wanted something beautiful enough to leave on the shelf, engaging enough to return to again and again, and open-ended enough to inspire genuine creativity.

Instead, I found a choice between brightly coloured plastic toys and highly prescriptive building systems.

That led me to a simple question:

What if building blocks were designed more like architecture—and more like works of art—than conventional children's toys?

The answer led me back nearly two centuries to the work of educational pioneer Friedrich Fröbel, inventor of the kindergarten. Fröbel believed that children learn by creating, building and discovering relationships between simple forms. His original "Gifts"—a collection of geometric building objects—would go on to influence generations of architects, artists and designers, including Frank Lloyd Wright and many of the pioneers of modern architecture.

ArkiBlocks was created as a contemporary continuation of this tradition.

Because play is not preparation for creativity.

Play is creativity.

— Josh Blashki
Architect & Founder