_The Free Universal Construction Kit_ is a matrix of adapter bricks that enable complete interoperability between ten popular children’s construction toys. By allowing any piece to join to any other, the kit encourages totally new forms of intercourse between otherwise closed systems. As with other grassroots interoperability remedies, the _The Free Universal Construction Kit_ uses proprietary protocols in order to provide a public service unmet, or unmeetable, by corporate interests. _The Free Universal Construction Kit_ is not a product, but a provocation. It offers working adapters between Lego, Duplo, Fischertechnik, Gears! Gears! Gears!, K’Nex, Krinkles (Bristle Blocks), Lincoln Logs, Tinkertoys, Zome and Zoob—adapters that can be downloaded free from various sharing sites as a set of 3D models suitable for reproduction by personal manufacturing devices such as the Makerbot (an inexpensive, open-source 3D printer). In so doing, _The Free Universal Construction Kit_ prompts consideration about intellectual property, open-source culture and reverse engineering as a mode of cultural practice.

Opening doors to new creative worlds is one major reason we created _The Free Universal Construction Kit_. Another is that we believe expertise should not be disposable—and that children’s hard-won creative fluency with their toys should not become obsolete each Christmas. By allowing different toy systems to work together, _The Free Universal Construction Kit_ makes new forms of “forward compatibility” possible, extending the value of these systems across the life of a child.

In producing_The Free Universal Construction Kit_, we hope to demonstrate a model of reverse engineering as a civic activity: a creative process in which anyone can develop the necessary pieces to bridge the limitations presented by mass-produced commercial artifacts. We hope that the kit will not only prompt people to create new designs but, more importantly, to reflect on our relationship with material mass-culture—and the rapidly evolving ways in which we can better adapt it to our imaginations.

_The Free Universal Construction Kit_ comprises nearly 80 two-way adapters. These allow each of the different construction toys (Lego, Tinkertoy, Fischertechnik etc.) to interface with any of the other supported systems. Prior to modeling, the dimensions of the various toy connectors were reverse-engineered with an optical comparator fitted with a digital read-out accurate to less than one ten-thousandth of an inch (0.0001in., or 2.54 microns). The resulting precision ensures that *The Free Universal Construction Kit* “actually works”, enabling tight snap-fits between custom and commercial components.

The Kit was conceived and developed by Golan Levin and Shawn Sims, and released through the Free Art and Technology (F.A.T.) Lab and Synaptic Lab collectives. The Kit was developed with support from the Frank-Ratchye STudio for Creative Inquiry at Carnegie Mellon University, and is represented, for legal purposes, by Adapterz, LLC.

Links: http://fffff.at/free-universal-construction-kit http://vimeo.com/37778890 http://vimeo.com/37778172

The Free Art and Technology (F.A.T.) Lab (US) is an arts collective dedicated to enriching the public domain through the research and development of creative technologies and media, often at the intersection of open source and popular culture. **Golan Levin** has released works through F.A.T. Since 2010. Synaptic Lab (US), founded and directed by **Shawn Sims**, is a research and design group dedicated to the creation of new technologies [ and/for/with ] form. Sims is a graduate of the CMU Computational Design Lab, from which he received a Master’s in Tangible Interaction Design.