Construction Sets: The Principle of Modularity

not all technological devices are plug and play, not by a long shot. Many come as prefabricated parts that need to be put together. In the past, devices such as computers and radios were sold as assembly kits due to shortages and restrictions. Today, with the do-it-yourself (DIY) trend and rising concerns about sustainability, assembly kits are becoming more and more popular. They make us want to understand technology and to tinker with it, and they allow us to fix our devices more readily. Children’s toys can also be based on this design principle. For generations, construction sets have been a part of our childhoods. By playing with them, we gain an understanding of the world around us.

The sets were created by the German aviation pioneers Gustav and Otto Lilienthal, who experimented with quartz sand, chalk, pigments, and linseed oil. They pressed these materials into standardized and combinable blocks. The red ones were for roofing tiles, the yellow ones for sandstone, and the blue ones for slate, just like real houses in Germany at the time. Their vision: a learning game that allowed children to discover the basics of architecture and structural engineering.

This is a translation of the slogan the company Walther & Co. from Berlin-Kreuzberg adopted for their metal building set "Stabil" around 1915. The company’s targeting of boys was motivated by the knowledge that many parents wanted to prepare their sons for careers in highly-respected fields such as structural and mechanical engineering.

The practical Lectron kit, released in 1967, allowed users to quickly get a handle on electronic circuitry. In no time at all, circuits could be created using transparent blocks with magnetic contacts – all without time-consuming soldering, clamping, and screwing.

The blocks were designed in such a way that their inner functioning was visible and could thus be understood. The minimalist design, created by the Braun company's chief designer Dieter Rams, became a classic among experimental kits. Drawing on Rams's reduced form language, the American computer company Apple revolutionized the design of electronics.

In 1985, the three East Berliners, working from their home in a concrete-slab building in Berlin-Lichtenberg, developed an assembly kit from fiberglass-reinforced plastic that they used to create a complete fairing.

In the 1980s, self-assembly computers such as the single-board computer Z1013 by VEB Robotron were the German Democratic Republic's response to the growing need for personal computers. But unlike today, users then still had to assemble the Z1013 before they could use it.

Year after year, millions of smartphones wind up in the landfill. Some manufacturers offer alternatives to cell phones that are destined for the trash heap. Phones made by the company SHIFT can be repaired in a few steps, even by lay people. Replacement parts can be purchased online. This extends the life of the devices and saves rare mineral resources. So far, such niche products have hardly been able to hold their own in the face of major electronics companies.