In an effort to imagine a more equitable future, a big thing that comes to the front is the idea of circular economies.

Really it's about eliminating waste. If we want to live and adapt with climate change, and change how we interact with nature and stop extracting resources, we can instead aim to reduce waste, and material production as much as possible.

This touches on a bunch of other ideas like #localization but it would be cool in a near future, to have modular and recyclable components used to build everything from furniture, to garden beds, to event spaces, really anything that we need. A standard for manufacturing so any part can be reused. Lego is an example that people use for modularity, but the big thing is making most of the parts also work with existing things.

With standard parts you can both mass produce and have localized production with free plans that anyone can make or 3D print. If you have a desk and instead want a sleeping loft, then you can move parts around and have one. We can make the parts from recycled plastic, taken from landfills, waterways, or floating around in the countless areas of litter and trash.
Wood and other materials can come from salvaged areas, or through thoughtful coppicing.

Even better, manufacturing can be done at a more local level. Instead of relying on complex supply chains and capitalist systems. Fabrication Labs can spring up, that might host tool libraries, but also help produce things, and recycle items to make them useful again. Imagining a fablab run as a worker co-op, where the central goal is to meet the basic needs of everyone in the community. Old plastic is melted down and used to create new modular pieces. When something breaks it can be quickly repaired instead of thrown away. Anyone can make their own designs and collaborate on what works best. Using the local materials around them to make new and old things. Moving away from consumption to waste >> and towards reuse and modularity.

For a concrete framework on this openstructures.net has a great idea of orienting parts in a grid, that can connect to others in a bunch of ways.

This book by Ken Isaacs, "how to Build Your Own Living Structures" really inspired me to think about this. (images are also from the book) (http://www.publiccollectors.org/LivingStructuresk_isaacs-1.pdf

#solarpunk #modular #modularconstruction #degrowth #alternativebuilding