Arckit has launched a Kickstarter crowdfunding campaign, hoping to change the way schools teach STEM skills and encouraging businesses get their teams working together to create a miniature cityscape.
The concept has been touted as "Lego for adults," with a more sophisticated finish than the bright and colourful blocks often associated with the children's toy. It's designed for use by anyone aged 12 upwards and because it's modular, with the pieces just clicking together, buildings and cities can be built and rebuilt as often as needed.
Arckit teaches children how buildings are created and the ins and outs of planning, ensuring there's enough space for people to flow through the buildings and also to ensure the individual buildings are built in a way that is structurally safe.
The company has already developed an Arckit Education Programme for schools and universities to teach STEM and STEAM skills with its original kits, but this super-powered version will make it more cost-effective for organisations to implement the learning resource.
The concept was formed by architect Damien Murtagh who was struggling to find a cheap and easy way to show his clients what their blueprints would look like in real life. Although designers are able to create lifelike architectural models using wooden or plastic pieces and glue, they are expensive and don't have the adaptability Murtagh and his clients were asking for.
"We launched our original Arckit back in 2014 as a revolutionary alternative to the traditional architects' model," Murtagh said. "[Now] we want to open up architecture to everyone and change the way people think about their built environments."
The Cityscape plan is made up of colourful building blocks that roughly represent buildings, while the Masterplan and Masterplan Pro are more lifelike buildings that can give a real vision of future urban environments.
The Kickstarter campaign will promote the launch of new city kits, Arckit Cityscape, Arckit Masterplan and Arckit Masterplan Pro. They all comprise multiple buildings that can be stacked together to create whole cities and the packages are available at a discount for schools and businesses.
"Now everyone can get involved in designing our cities and have real and meaningful discussions about the environments we need for the future," Murtagh finished.
Image credit: Arckit
