Jan Ryaa
Jan Ryaa (born c. 1951)[1][2] is a Danish retired toy designer who worked as a design master at the LEGO Group between 1974–2021. He was greatly involved in the birth of LEGO Technic and is credited as the creator of the classic Technic beams with holes.
Biography
Jan Ryaa began working at LEGO in 1974, initially building 3D models. He soon moved to product development, where he was assigned to be a developer on a new project, LEGO Technical Sets (later renamed to LEGO Technic). Wanting to achieve more movement in the Technical Sets models, Ryaa began drilling holes into LEGO elements to insert axle rods into, leading to the development of LEGO Technic bricks with holes.[3] (another source for technic: [4])
Ryaa was also apparently involved in the development of the LEGO Homemaker figures somehow?[5]
Ryaa became close friends with Sten Schmidt, who became a LEGO Technic developer in 1984.[6] Schmidt developed the Technic beam element, basing it on the Technic brick system Ryaa had developed. Ryaa later jokingly stated that Schmidt "ruined" the Technic brick. In 2002 Ryaa was assigned to the Design Lab, with the job of creating new LEGO elements and ensuring that they matched the style of other elements. Ryaa retired from LEGO in April 2021, alongside Schmidt; the two left together on their last day. An article released on the LEGO website stated that Ryaa and Schmidt together had a collective ninety years of experience at LEGO.[3]
Products designed
Parts
Sets
- Car Chassis (set 853, released 1977)[1]
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Hanlon, Joshua (15 March 2019). "This Man Has Designed LEGO Sets for 45 Years". Beyond the Brick – via YouTube.
- ↑ Hanlon, Joshua [@BeyondtheBrick] (December 11, 2018). "We're in Denmark touring the #LEGO archive with Jan Ryaa, who has designed LEGO sets for 45 years! He is holding the first Technic helicopter" (Tweet). Archived from the original on 6 August 2024. Retrieved 5 August 2024 – via Twitter.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 "Two LEGO icons say goodbye after 90 years of combined experience". Careers - LEGO.com. 22 April 2021. Archived from the original on 25 September 2023. Retrieved 25 September 2023.
- ↑ "The Beginning - How did Technic get started?". LEGO.com. Archived from the original on 6 March 2016.
- ↑ Byskov-Eriksen, Bo (December 2014). "Ancestor of all Minifigures". LEGO Life. No. 4. The LEGO Group. Archived from the original on 25 September 2023.
- ↑ Korsholm, Jacob Bang (17 January 2019). "40-års jubilar startede på et hemmeligt projekt". Horsens Folkeblad (in dansk). Archived from the original on 29 September 2023.
