A dense grouping of white plastic building-brick structures forms tall, intricate towers, stacked platforms, arches and stepped shapes, rising from a layer of loose bricks. Behind the installation, large windows show a shallow water feature, part of a dark pelican sculpture, trees and people walking outside in daylight.

The cubic structural evolution project 2004

As a hands-on opportunity to build a perpetually evolving ‘city of the future’, The cubic structural evolution project 2004 celebrates creativity and collective effort. Since 2005, when it entered the QAGOMA Collection, generations of children and adults have taken up Eliasson’s invitation to join together and become co‑producers of this work. The cubic structural evolution project is transformed every day and therefore is never finished.

Looking towards the Brisbane River, we see the city skyline. Comparing the actual and model cities, we see the shared energy possible when we work together. For Eliasson, art, maths, design, science and technology are not mutually exclusive disciplines. In fact, each is stronger and more energised by its interplay with the others.

– Geraldine Kirrihi Barlow

Low/no vision audio description

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This installation fills the gallery with long, white tables piled high with thousands of small white LEGO bricks. The tables form a wide rectangular surface, low enough for both children and adults to reach comfortably.

Spread across the surface are countless constructions built from the same uniform white pieces. Some are small and simple – a single tower or a wall only a few bricks high. Others are tall and intricate, rising to half a metre or more. Shapes resemble skyscrapers, bridges, domes, towers and imagined structures. Together they present a sprawling cityscape. Beneath and between the constructions lie scattered mounds of loose bricks, ready to be used for further building.

Visitors are active participants in the work. Throughout the exhibition, people sit or stand around the tables, taking handfuls of bricks and adding to the evolving city. Each new contribution becomes part of the whole, with later visitors building onto or reshaping what has been left before them. The result is a landscape that is always in flux – partly planned, partly improvised and constantly remade.

The overall effect is of a collaborative structure that grows and shifts over time. The uniform whiteness of the LEGO bricks gives the city a sculptural, architectural quality, while every addition carries the trace of individual hands.

– QAGOMA

A dense cluster of white plastic building-brick structures, showing stacked blocks, tall column-like forms, stepped roofs and narrow staircases. Loose bricks are piled at the base, and the tightly packed towers fill the frame.

A dense cluster of white plastic building-brick structures with tall vertical towers, narrow window-like openings, stepped roofs, arched elements and zigzagging staircases. Loose bricks lie at the base, and the interconnected forms rise closely together.

A dense arrangement of white plastic building-brick structures sits on a display table, forming tall, varied architectural shapes and circular frameworks. Among them is a large arched form spelling ‘GOMA’. Behind the installation, floor-to-ceiling windows reveal leafy trees, the river and numerous city buildings under bright daylight.

Experience this work on the Sense Trail