While playing with action figures with his son, David Weeks had an epiphany. The Brooklyn-based designer, celebrated for his modernist kinetic chandeliers, was looking to move into other mediums. He had already designed a best-selling chair for British retailer Habitat and a line of upholstered furniture for Ralph Pucci. But Weeks, who’d trained as a sculptor and painter, was still restless. He found himself studying the toys’ joints to see how they were fashioned. Then it clicked: He would create a line of wooden animals.
“It was cathartic,” Weeks says of hand-making the first creature, Hanno the Gorilla. More mammals followed, each increasingly complicated in form and function. When the project turned from escape to burden, the designer pivoted: He dreamed up CubeBot. Based on traditional Shinto Kumiki puzzles, the blocky figure has a blank expression and the ability to strike a pose—many a pose, in fact. The toy was an immediate social-media sensation.
You have 0 complimentary articles remaining.
Unlimited access + premium benefits for as low as $1.99/month.