Liberty Science Center Welcomes Back "Beyond Rubik's Cube" Exhibition, Showcasing World's Most Popular Toy

Download PDF

JERSEY CITY, N.J., October 19, 2020 – In 2014, Liberty Science Center premiered its Beyond Rubik's Cube exhibition and it instantly became its most successful and popular offering, engaging hundreds of thousands of Cube enthusiasts and curious new fans from around the world to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the world’s bestselling puzzle toy and pop-culture triumph. Now, after a six-year international tour that took Beyond Rubik’s Cube to Shanghai, Cleveland, Halifax, and many other cities, the exhibition has returned to its home base and is now open at Liberty Science Center.

With highly interactive physical and digital challenges, Beyond Rubik’s Cube invites guests to experience the wonders of the Cube, and learn how it emerged from a workshop in Communist-era Hungary to become a worldwide phenomenon, fostering creativity across the fields of science, technology, engineering, robotics, the visual arts, music, film, architecture, and mathematics.

The $5-million media-rich exhibit was designed by LSC with lead creative partner Google and the Cube's inventor, Ernő Rubik.

“Rubik's Cube has inspired and connected people from around the world,” said Paul Hoffman, LSC President and CEO, and Creative Director of Beyond Rubik’s Cube. “So we know that having the exhibit back at the Center will serve as a focal and unifying point in our divided world, while celebrating the ingenious amalgam of engineering, mathematical, and design innovation that is the Cube. We are excited for a new generation of visitors to experience this one-of-a-kind exhibition. You don’t need to know anything about solving the Cube to enjoy the exhibition; you can simply hand a Cube to a friendly robot and it will quickly solve it for you!”

“It is wonderful to see the exhibition returning to Liberty Science Center after a six-year tour around America and China,” said Ernő Rubik. “Seamlessly merging learning and playfulness, Beyond Rubik’s Cube is a unique expression of the Cube's vast educational potential.”

As part of the celebration of Beyond Rubik’s Cube's return, Liberty Science Center enlisted the help of world-renowned speed cuber Anthony Brooks to create a unique piece of art that greets guests upon their arrival: an eight-foot-tall mural of NIAID Director, Dr. Anthony Fauci.


Made up of 1,036 Rubik’s Cubes and taking Brooks and assistants more than three hours to construct, the mural of Dr. Fauci is not only a tribute to one of the country’s leading scientists, but also a reminder that the Cube is far more than just a toy.

As guests enter the exhibition, digital projections of color and geometry dance in response to their movement, setting the tone for the immersive experience that awaits them in three discovery zones: Invent, Play, and Inspire.

The first zone, Invent, invites guests to jump right into the complex and compelling world of puzzle toys.
• Rare artifacts made of wood blocks, paper clips, and rubber bands show guests the humble and brilliant Hungarian origin of Ernő Rubik's great invention.
• At Cube Prototype, guests can explore the complex geometry behind the Rubik's Cube by arranging 3D shapes and inventing their own puzzles.
• Art and mathematics meet at Tessellation Maker, an interactive experience where guests create visually stunning patterns.

Next, guests move to the Play zone for more interactive exploration.
• A Solve Bar welcomes cubers of all skill levels and provides animated instructions for conquering the Cube.
• At Robot Command, guests discover the parallels between computer programming and Cube solving as they program a robot to run a maze.
• Young visitors and their grownups work together on Cube Match, a game of colored building blocks with endless combinations.

Finally, guests venture into the Inspire zone to experience the Cube's vast artistic and technological influence.
• Visitors can see how the Cube inspires them artistically by composing their own haiku using the Haikube; engineering a musical masterpiece in Cube Symphony; and see a mosaic made entirely of Rubik's Cubes.
• Guests control a giant Rubik's Cube the size of a car to discover the internal mechanism that makes it work.
• See a one-of-a-kind, 18-karat gold, jewel-encrusted, fully functional Rubik's Cube. It’s the world's most expensive toy, estimated to be worth $2.5 million.
• At Robot Race, guests will challenge a speed-cubing robot to solve their scrambled Cubes.
• Twisty Puzzle Design brings people together at a multi-touch digital table to design and test their own puzzles with other guests.

Support for Beyond Rubik's Cube has been generously provided by the government of Hungary, Ernő Rubik, Rubik's Brand Ltd. Liberty Science Center would also like to acknowledge the donors who made the original exhibition possible: Google, Judy and Josh Weston, Bank of America, Ernst & Young LLP, Jennifer A. Chalsty, Overdeck Family Foundation, Prudential, David Barry, Jim and Marilyn Simons, The Hariri Family, Public Service Electric & Gas Company (PSE&G), The Paul and Phyllis Fireman Charitable Foundation, The Horizon Foundation of New Jersey, Panepinto Properties & Guarini & Guarini, PNC Bank, John and Rose Cali, Alma DeMetropolis, Bruce and Rhonda Levy, Dr. and Mrs. William A. Tansey, III, Rodney C. Armstead, Connell Foley LLP, Kevin Cummings, The Geraldine R. Dodge Foundation, Paul and Eric Silverman, Carolyn and Bob Slaski, and Tom and Anne Stanton.

To learn more and purchase tickets online, please visit LSC.org.

About Liberty Science Center
Liberty Science Center (LSC.org) is a 300,000-square-foot not-for-profit learning center located in Liberty State Park on the Jersey City bank of the Hudson near the Statue of Liberty. Dedicated to inspiring the next generation of scientists and engineers and bringing the power, promise, and pure fun of science and technology to learners of all ages, Liberty Science Center houses the largest planetarium in the Western Hemisphere, 12 museum exhibition halls, a live animal collection with 110 species, giant aquariums, a 3D theater, live simulcast surgeries, a tornado-force wind simulator, K-12 classrooms and labs, and teacher-development programs. More than 250,000 students visit the Science Center each year, and tens of thousands more participate in the Center’s off-site and online programs. Welcoming more than 750,000 visitors annually, LSC is the largest interactive science center in the NYC-NJ metropolitan area.