A short history of modularity and a vision for next 10 years
A strange capsular object is appearing behind a window of a dark room.The capsule is an automatic car, that was just moments ago driving itself on computerized automated highway.The doors are opening and the car is docking-in to became a seamless part of the interior design of the building.A man steps in,while talking to the computer; “I’m home.”
This is a famous scene from the movie Minority Report. And it is also the most extreme example of modular design. Modular design is not a new concept. From the beginning of industrial era modular systems has been used everywhere where customization was in need.Architecture is using modular concepts for more than a century.Using prefabricated metallic frames or even whole concrete block walls. Cars and computers are the most typical and also most advanced modular designs.Every car and every computer is a device build entirely of exchangeable and fully customisable separate modules. Since the beginning of the domestic computer era this approach expanded to ever increasing number of domestic appliances. So we are using the modular technology to build our technology, design and architecture, but we are not making them modular and inter-compatible themselves. Making them look anything, but “Minority Report” like.
Of course there are some attempts of modular design existing already. Like iPod/iPhone, with its wide range of docks and compatible devices or the Modu cell phone concept.
A very nice functioning example of modular design is the Modu cell phone. Modu is a fully functional little cellphone/mediaplayer that can be slotted inside other devices in flash-card style.
All this concepts are limited to themselves. Using modular design to create a stand-alone devices or limiting the modularity to determined range of devices. I believe next decade will bring a boom in modular designs and will create a need for standardization. As the software industry slowly moves from stand-alone devices to seamless cloud computing, the device design will have to keep on track.
Another well known example of modular design is the International Space Station
So the cloud of modular devices, will be a necessary secondary effect of the virtual software cloud. I think there is no doubt that such technology, will appear in the close future. And indeed it is appearing already. The advances in 3D printing of electronics, will also speed up the development of customizable electronics modules. And once one of the standards hits the market hard, there will be nothing in the way to stop the real “Modular Revolution”.
After electronics you may expect the modularity to move to transportation, interior design, urban developments and so on.
As the standards will have to be widely accepted to achieve a wide range of compatibility between the devices and architectural solutions, I can see a trend in Open Source Technology. Build on a same collaborative principles as Open Source Software and using the industries existing expertize.
It is time to elevate our real world technologies to the standards of the information society.
The evident advantages of modular designs are in their practicality in our daily lives, but there will be some other side effects as well. Modular systems can be used to create a completely new form of transportation and construction services, with high levels of automation and less hard-physical labour involved. New forms of modular transport systems, could move goods around our towns without a need of thousands of cars polluting our environment.
You would not need an extra charger for each of your devices, but instead you could build a low-voltage network inside your flat to safe the energy.
Modular design of furniture and interior design, will create lasting values. As you can rebuild the modules in always new forms and concepts, people will be more likely to re-use or re-sell their old crap instead of throwing it away.
This is very important aspect of modular design:Re-usability.
Just imagine you could take appart all your interior design, furniture, domestic electronics etc., anytime you get bored of them.Build interiors according to your taste and need.(Picture above;Modular Kitchen by Fevzi Karaman.)
In similar manner as we are building children playgrounds today.
The possibilities are endless and the future will be modular. Without any doubt.
