At the intersection of toys and furniture, TONITURE borrows from classic construction sets with a critical twist: the do-it-yourself objects kids design and build with these pieces are functional as well as fun.

The Korean design studio G280 were inspired by Meccano, a kit-based building toy now almost a century old (that long predated LEGO and Erector). Meccano let children put together metal pieces then animate them with  wheels, pulleys, gears, axles, plates, girders, all connected by nuts and bolts.

The TONITURE approach follows much the same logic but at a larger scale, allowing small users to assemble creations with joints and surfaces scaled for use by kids. There are useful creations, like carts and chairs, and fun hybrid objects including rocking horses and cute animal-shaped benches. Instructions are offered for specific designs, but kids can also use the parts to build experimentally.

Kids “are able to create the relationship between themselves” and the spaces around them with these furniture toys, say the designers.”The Toniture (Toy + Furniture) project was designed to give children a extraordinary experience. It can be desks, chairs, and shelves with fixed by bolts and nuts. The children can build their own objects by stacking, joining, assembling each units.”

As autonomous vehicles begin to roll out on city streets, adaptive reuse projects like this one could help old parking structures readily find new and productive urban purposes. This award-winning design by Dutch firm Studio Komma and The Men of Foam for The Hague features a mixed-use program built on the bones of an existing parking garage, with a twist: parts can be moved around like modular LEGO blocks.

And the LEGO piece is no idle comparison — the team used actual bricks to mock up their designs, focusing on how individual modules could play larger roles in the overall scheme. They also considered how these same re-situated units might later be shifted around to serve other functions.

Ground floors commercial and social spaces are fit into the framework of the extant garage, using the old second-story parking level for overhead shelter. Above the existing second level, new levels reuse ramps and other elements to grow the program vertically — these mostly-indoor third and fourth floors shelter an outdoor public zone left open in the middle.

Colors and details in the proposed scheme highlight elements of the adaptive reuse while aiming “to create an iconic building that is an accelerator for the transformation of an industrial area into a new energetic urban district.” Pieces of the old structure are preserved and made modular, fitting into the new program where useful but retaining aspects of their original shape and character to illustrate change over time.

In developing the ZIP2516 scheme, which subsequently won the Lot 2 Urban Lab Challenge, the architects were “challenged to think about temporary structures that have a permanent high quality.” Its modularity is intended to extend into the future as well — additional elements (like glass cladding and structural supports) are made to be moved as the needs of the site and city continue to evolve.

Toy-maker Mattel has announced a 3D printer with a novel application: a way for children to make their own custom toys using a simple digital interface. The app, designed by Autodesk, is easy to learn, fast to use and simple enough even younger kids can use it. The gadget itself is priced at $300.

The ThingMaker program comes with a number of templates and basic characters that can be customized in terms of color and texture, but also allows for from-scratch designs. Each design can be saved for future editing and printing as well, in standard formats that work with or beyond the printer.

Finished objects are only one piece of the puzzle, however: the idea is to also allow for printing, connecting and assembling larger creations from smaller parts. Ball-and-socket joints can be easily included for attachment purposes, helping facilitate complex dolls and action figures. Eventually, Mattel may also facilitate combinations and accessories associated with existing branded toy lines, like Barbie and Hot Wheels.

Various safety measures have been included to keep kids safe, from an automatically-locking door to a retractable print head. For liability reasons they are listing it as a device for kids ages 13 or older.

“In today’s digital age, it’s more important than ever for families to transcend the digital world and make their ideas real,” said Aslan Appleman, senior director, at Mattel. “ThingMaker pushes the boundaries of imaginative play, giving families countless ways to customize their toys and let their creativity run wild.”

This kit-of-parts solution draws on the do-it-yourself ethos as well as the modular furniture movement, allowing savvy homeowners to combine off-the-shelf designs with custom connections and modifications. The implications are subtle but powerful: buy only the elements you need that are too hard to personally construct, then use this system of joints, legs and beams to bridge the gaps.

On display at Milan Deign Week, the IKEA HACKA toolbox consists of a key set of metal joints that create connections between modular wooden beams, all using regular dimensions for ease and consistency of construction. Cutting beams down to size, users can effectively create new hybrid furniture or built-ins styled and fit to their own unique spaces, stacking, supporting and hanging things between. Minimalist, modern, funky, the connectors are neutral enough to suit all personalities and approaches, as illustrated in the examples below.

Together, these parts allow for the construction of support systems that turn individual elements into part of a network, allowing personalized touches and enabling space-saving solutions. They can also be re-hacked into new shapes as your needs grow or change.

An effort to bridge the gap between purely hacked-together creations and existing products, IKEA HACKA was developed as a collaboration between IKEA, IDEO and a group of industrial design and technology students. It is intended to be part of a “future kitchen that bridges the gap between the hacking movement and the modular systems of today. Its flexibility helps people to create their own solutions, and makes it easy for them to hack it to suit their unique needs and style.”

Combining elements of IKEA ingenuity and their own classic line of modular toys, Meccano (makers of Erector Sets) is now offering a new type of do-it-yourself furniture modeled on their own miniature for-kids equivalents.

Made in France, the Meccano Home furniture series involves the same sorts of struts, surfaces, connectors and bolts found at smaller scale in their toy line, a kit-of-parts approach letting you build then rework any domestic object you desire, reusing pieces along the way.

Currently sold in sets, you can start out with a single piece then use the modules to make something entirely new or combine elements from other packages. Twenty different pieces help create sufficient consistency while also providing variety – there are a lot of options but no risk of losing a ‘rare’ part that could be more difficult to replace.

Flashy colors and a nostalgic aesthetic aside, the bigger picture here is a powerful one: a world in which we no longer scrap or sell our used furniture, but instead cannibalize the parts, storing them for future use or re-purposing them on the spot into new furnishings.