Froebel Gifts

According to the myth, Frank Lloyd Wright used to play with these as a child. In 1826 Friedrich Froebel makes its first wooden blocks for children’s education. Its education philosophy based on free self-expression, creativity, social participation, and motor expression, got renowned, as his wooden blocks, later called Froebel’s Gifts. According to the myth, the latter would influence central architectural references such as Frank Lloyd Wright. More recently it became a major influence, for instance, on the development of shape grammar theory when George Stiny [1] devised and analytical shape grammar based on these.

[1] Stiny, George. (1980). Kindergarten grammars: designing with Froebel's building gifts. Environment and Planning B, 7(4), 409-462. doi: 10.1068/b070409