with purpose. While the Lego brick has remained unchanged ever since it was first put into production, the amazing number of uses that this tiny little brick has to offer have continued to evolve and surprise the builders of tomorrow.
table of contents meet the innovators
1
what has LEGO taught us?
3
what’s in a brick?
5
building green
7
first aid
9
NASA meets LEGO
12
science & technology
15
teaching with toys
17
meet the innovators It is our mission to ‘Inspire and develop the builders of tomorrow’ a reflection of the company’s fundamental belief in the value of play and learning through play in society and for children in particular. While playing, children learn to unfold their creativity and develop valuable skills and this is important for all children. We believe that you cannot play without learning and that you cannot learn without playing. As a consequence we develop products that support these traits and we are passionate to promote children’s right to play and develop.
all lego models are initially built in white bricks to make sure that color isn’t driving the design.
things LEGO vation o n in t u o b a s u t taugh 1. Reuse is mandatory. 2. Designing a product to stay within a budget is a badge of honor. 3. Lego designers are required to wear gloves or to build with their left hand in order to mimic the feasibility of a project that will be built by a four year old.
4. Nothing beats research and development. 5. You can only use white bricks during the design phase. Which forces the designers to focus on the essentials. 6. You can’t use new custom bricks. The designers must come up with unique solutions.
400
billion bricks have been produced since 1958
LEGO bricks are available in
19
18
53
different colors
billion Lego elements are produced per year
2.16
million are molded every hour
elements out of every million fail to meet the company’s high standards The LEGO bricks sold in one year would circle the world
5
times
planet promise
Zero product recalls - always Top 10 on employee safety by 2015 Support learning for 101 million children by 2015 Zero waste as an aspirational target
building green lego begins to grow green Designer Sebastian Bergne was asked to create an installation using LEGO. Entitled the ‘LEGO greenhouse’, the london-based designer’s project is an actual functioning green-house, whose walls, floors and earth are entirely built from the iconic building bricks, contrasting the live plants and vegetables growing within. This LEGO
greenhouse is the first of many efforts that LEGO has made to show their commitment to sustainability, “Our sustainability and responsibility efforts revolve around children and our passion for play and learning. Every day we translate these objectives into firm steps, so we can help build a bigger and better tomorrow.”
100%
By 2020, of our energy will be balanced by renewable energy sources.
plastic surgery putting the “leg” in “lego” A therapist and amputee builds herself a prosthetic leg and it all started with a tub full of Lego bricks. Stephens created a makingof video showing how she pieced the multicolor toys together to fit over her leg. The weak point in the plan was the tendency for the ankle and foot part to snap off, but all it takes is a click to put it back together.
While researchers are still trying to find out what other medical solutions that LEGOs might have, they are confident that the toy will be able to solve a lot of problems. The brick is durable and can withstand a lot of pressure which makes it an ideal material for medical use. One day, researchers can even see LEGOs as a bone replacement.
LEGOleg Star Christina Stephens construction of a prosthetic leg out of hundreds of Lego pieces that made her an Internet star. The YouTube video has more than 1.3 million views since it was posted in early July.
950 2.17 375,000 pounds
miles
under pressure How tall can a tower of Lego be built before the bricks at the bottom buckle under the strain?
bricks
102,981,500 The different number of ways that eight-stud LEGO bricks of the same color can be combined in.
etymology The word LEGO is derived from the danish words “led godt� which means play well.
new elements A group of scientists at the University of Cambridge are working to develop synthetic bone tissue, but the process to create the samples used in the study is incredibly tedious. Equipment that can automate the process is available but very costly, so the scientists did what they do best and built a set of robots to do the work for them. Their new bone manufacturing setup was
constructed using LEGO Mindstorm kits, which were a perfect solution to their problem in several ways. The kits are cheap, easy to construct, easy to program, and able to perform the same function precisely for days on end. Now instead of burning time manually creating synthetic bone samples, the group can focus on the more important facets of their research.
the brick interacts with the physical world through sensors and motors, allowing children to build and program their own robots.
0
0
,0
0
0
,0 0 0 ,0 40
62
On average there are LEGO bricks for every person on earth
NASA & LEGO
n m lu uld o c o o a w yt . ilt s, it an oon u b O sm m ou EG thi he fi y of L ke h t ta eac r
LEGO bricks will provide a symbolic link between Earth and space when the Space Shuttle Discovery blasts off from Cape Canaveral for its last scheduled flight. A small LEGO space shuttle model will accompany the crew to mark the start of a partnership between the two. “Learning is at the very core of the LEGO Group’s values...The
company has invested time and research with educators and child development specialists. Over the next three years The LEGO Group and NASA will participate in a joint outreach program designed to inspire children to explore science, technology, engineering and math which will hopefully lead to a bright future for NASA.
Every brick has a purpose. Some are made for a specific spot—most can adapt almost anywhere— but every one will fit somewhere.
http://aboutus.lego.com/en-us/lego-group Š2013 The LEGO Group. All rights reserved.