je italy
marco simone and beatrice lombardi

‘Like a puzzle: modularity approach towards change’ was brought to life from the collaboration of JE Italy and Jacquard of Living, both realities whose backbone is made of young people.

J. is not just a magazine. Targeting at under 35 young European professionals, it is intended to emphasize how architecture, a subject halfway between science and humanitas, is by its nature focused on dialectic and disciplinary complementarity. Yearning to become part of a wider reality, like a cog in a machine, J. proposes itself as a catalyst of ideas, comparison and collaboration between young professionals, which can also be part of a network of young people mindful of environmental sustainability issues.

The JE Italy Network was born from youngsters, for youngsters, bringing enterprising young people who are attentive to current, social and environmental issues together. Since its birth in 1992, JE Italy has been promoting and giving voice to constructive values and ideas. Values that are portrayed by J. too.

One of our strengths is transversality: we believe that applying a multidisciplinary model of work through our collaboration is a fundamental example for the new generation.

Attention to environmental sustainability is one of the pillar values shared by JE Italy and J. From a European perspective, this translates into the circular economy model. For this reason, we think it is necessary to encourage discussion among the future actors of the European economic scene on which implications the decisions we are taking today may have.

Among the many applications of the circular economy, modular design has attracted our attention, since it will be an inevitable consequence of the serial production model characteristic of the last century. The goal of our collaboration is to suggest reasoning on future scenarios and possible consequences, in order to be ready to understand and manage change.

Change: this is the word that will lead our actions in the next years, in order to achieve the Agenda 2030 sustainable development goal.

The biggest change that has to be made in the next few years is to go beyond the linear economic model which is out of date since it doesn’t respond to the need of addressing the climate emergency anymore.

The transition towards a circular economy will play a key role in making an impact towards a more sustainable way of producing and consuming, resulting in a more sustainable world.

Change has to be made on how resources are managed, how products are used and what has to be done with materials afterwards: the business models and production systems themselves need to change. An example to do so is applying modular design.
Modularity in design is a principle that sees whatever it is applied to like a bigger system that can be subdivided into smaller parts. These can be individually changed, modified, created, replaced or even inserted into another system and exchanged.

Modular design can be efficiently applied in several contexts, from service design to technology. At the moment, it is becoming a trend in the construction industry, changing the game in design and architecture due to its multiple benefits on cost, efficiency and personalization.
Modular buildings consist of ‘small pieces’ that are subsequently assembled.
The different modules are produced at a factory and not directly in the final place. This reduces the transportation cost of raw materials and also changes the impact on human work, because most of the processes are automated. Modular building is more efficient, faster and seems to have less impact on the environment than traditional house building. The modular design also makes the maintenance of the buildings easier and less expensive, potentially letting the building’s parts last a lifetime. Every module can be also easily recycled, renewed, modified or even be replaced and sold without taking down the whole construction.
Although modules are all produced the same, when they get into the final location, they offer a higher level of personalization. It’s a common idea that modular buildings might reduce the sense of individuality in people and result into alienation, because that particular design is also optimal to produce tons of identical buildings in cities, but that’s not the only way possible, in our opinion.

There are several examples that demonstrate that the customization feature that modular goods provide could be another incentive to promote the change among the masses, making circular products appealing to people’s desire to be unique and satisfying their needs as well. Modules are in fact versatile, they allow people to be creative, to experiment and to change how available space is perceived. The fact that the various modules constitute elements in their own right means that on the one hand there is homogeneity in the production, on the other hand that people can choose how to best combine their parts.

An example is the MIMA House which aims to address the desires of a more and more exigent pool of customers. It is what the joining link between mass production and unique customization looks like. The walls of the building can be easily moved to manage the internal spaces as liked, making every house look different from another.

Another example can be found in Danish construction companies which produce social housing. It is true that, on the external side, the building looks the same, but on the inside people can decide how to place the various rooms except from the kitchen and the bathroom. They benefit from cost reduction, less construction waste and high quality materials, while mantaining a degree of customization.

Another big change, involving everything modular design can be applyed to, is that in the “modular way of thinking” there’s no such product that stands for itself, but everything is part of a system.
Linear economy sees products themselves as a resource of value and income so that the strategy must focus on selling more and investing less. In the linear model, making the product repairing difficult is “part of the strategy”. The same strategy which also applies “planned obsolescence” to limit the lifespan of a product. The narration surrounding products and trends aims to get people to buy new products, too. Goods get too old and need to be replaced.

On the other hand, the circular economy puts the performance of the products in the centre, so that the products are part of a company's assets. Product longevity, reusing and repairing might be some of the factors a circular business model can focus on.
Goods must be designed to last as long as possible. Products must not lose value as time passes by.

Some actions are being taken right now, focusing on the quality of materials used and aiming to incentivize recycling. In the future, industries also might internalize the “end of life management” and implement reverse logistics, so that a disposable product can be returned to its factory to be discarded, instead of being dropped in a dump.

Needless to say, there’s a need to encourage an underlying transformation in people’s habits and consumer behaviour first. It is important also to prevent people, producers and consumers to repeat “old mistakes” that would result into waste and pollution the same as before, or even more.

Both producers and consumers need to understand what circular economy is and what are the ways to apply its principles. What companies have to do is think about new ways people will interact with their products, what their desires and necessities will be and how to respond to them in a sustainable way. That will lead to a change in their business models, it’s up to the industry to choose the first step towards it, whether it’s applying modular design or investing in reverse logistics.

Sitography

https://www.industryweek.com/innovation/article/21963058/mass-customization-the-modular- model [Accessed May 2021]
https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fbuil.2019.00115/full [Accessed May 2021]
https://circulareconomy.europa.eu/platform/sites/default/files/circular_by_design_-_products_ in_the_circular_economy.pdf [Accessed April 2021]
http://circular-future.eu/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/IMSA-Circular-Business-Models-April-2 015-Part-1.pdf [Accessed April 2021]
https://architizer.com/blog/practice/materials/all-modular-everything/ [Accessed May 2021]