A Building That's a Playable Rubik's Cube

This past October, Spanish artist and designer Javier Lloret turned the Ars Electronica building in Linz, Austria into everybody’s favorite toy from the 1980s: the Rubik’s Cube. Even better, Lloret made his installation playable.

Puzzle Façade—the name of the artwork—allows individuals to manipulate the building by using a 3D-printed interface cube connected to the wall via Bluetooth technology. Unfortunately, because you cannot turn the building over, you’re only able to see two sides of the cube at a time. I’m guessing once the fascination of using a building as a toy wears off, people just give up and walk away frustrated.

Fidel Martinez is an editor at Fusion.net. He’s also a Texas native and a lifelong El Tri fan.