Andrew Comfort

Who: Minneapolis architect Andrew Comfort—he used to design museums with Polshek Partnership Architects in NYC—and inventor of Q-Ba-Maze, a captivating, open-ended creative toy. Shimmering steel balls randomly collide and roll through colorful, transparent towers constructed with an interlocking system of cubes.

Generation after Generation: “My grandfather made a wooden marble run,” Comfort says. “So did his father, and so on, back to some unknown Swiss ancestor. I guess it’s in my blood.”

What’s in a Name? Q-Ba-Maze, pronounced, “cube amaze,” suggests how people will “amaze with cubes” when they make “a maze with cubes.” This construction toy allows users to experiment with cause and effect and inspires creative play and architectural enterprise and design.

Nutty Inventor: For six years, Comfort has been working on and perfecting the design of Q-Ba-Maze. There were eight generations of ra-pid prototype designs and hundreds of sketches before it was perfected. “This is my first patented invention. If I get two more patents, I will no longer be considered a nut job.”

Intelligent Design: “Play and design are two aspects of the same thing and the best designs arise from a spirit of play,” says Comfort. “It is a sculpture as well as a toy. The precision of the design and the strength and beauty of the polycarbonate resin gives it this uncommon breadth.”

Gift Guide: Q-Ba-Maze makes an ideal gift for everyone who likes to experiment and play. “I’ve had five-year-old boys, thirteen-year-old girls, forty-five-year-old men, and seventy-five-year-old grandmas all playing with Q-Ba-Maze for hours,” says Comfort. “It’s both right brain and left brain. It’s part art, part science, and all fun.” —Melissa Colgan

Q-Ba-Maze launched in June 2007 and is already in 350 specialty toy stores and museum gift shops across the United States, including the Walker Art Center, Creative KidStuff, Bibelot, and RobotLove. 

You can also see it on display at the Here By Design III exhibit at the Goldstein Museum of Design through January 20, 2008.