Thread by @99piorg

In the late 1700s, Friedrich Froebel was on track to be an architect, but became an educator instead. In pursuing this other career, Froebel arguably ended up having more influence on the world of architecture and design than any single architect. 99pi.org/episode/inheri… 🧵 1/9

Friedrich Froebel's lasting legacy is his invention of the kindergarten. If you’ve ever looked at a piece of abstract art or Modernist design and thought “my kindergartener could have made that,” well, that may be more true than you ever realized. 2/9

The German word "Kindergarten" cleverly encompassed two different ideas: kids would play in and learn from nature, but they would also themselves be nurtured and nourished “like plants in a garden.” 3/9

There were literal gardens and outdoor activities, but the real key to it all was a set of deceptively simple-looking toys that became known as Froebelgaben (in English: Froebel’s Gifts). These were inspired, in part, by time Froebel spent studying the geometry of crystals. 4/9

Froebelian kindergarten lessons encouraged very young students to think abstractly, and to relate ideas, objects and symbols. A set of blocks could be used to teach counting, then be turned into a house and then be used to tell the story of a family living in that house. 5/9

Art and design changed in the wake of kindergarten. Expressionist, Cubist and Surrealist artists like Paul Klee and Wassily Kandinsky attended early kindergartens. Others, like Piet Mondrian, encountered Froebelian methods as teachers. And if you look at their work, it shows. 6/9

Walter Gropius’ first hire at his new Bauhaus design school was a kindergarten teacher. And Frank Lloyd Wright, who never formally studied architecture, credits Froebel's Gifts as early and vital design learning tools. He spoke and wrote about them often throughout his life. 7/9

Buckminster Fuller, famous for pioneering geodesic domes made up of triangles, had his greatest engineering insight as a kindergartner -- while connecting peas and sticks (nodes and rods). He couldn’t see very well, but he could feel that triangular structures were stronger. 8/9

In some ways, all modern toy building systems reflect the influence of Froebel. Tinker Toys, Lego, Kinex — they’re all about understanding shape and form and making connections. And they're still powerful tools for learning collaboration and creativity through construction. 9/9

P.S. Want to know more? In this #99pi episode, @KurtKohlstedt and @RomanMars dive deep into Friedrich Froebel's life and legacy, including: the dedicated teachers who kept his dream alive, and ultimately spread kindergartens around the world. 🥳 /thread 99pi.org/episode/inheri…