Design for assembly: The Latest Architecture and News

The Deutsches Architekturmuseum (DAM) in Frankfurt, Germany, has opened a new interactive exhibition, on view from October 25, 2025, to February 8, 2026, presenting 100 years of architectural construction kits. Developed in collaboration with graphic designer Claus Krieger, Professors Andreas Kretzer and Philipp Reinfeld from the Stuttgart University of Applied Sciences (HFT), their students, and the wider DAM team, the exhibition brings together around 80 construction kits produced between 1890 and 1990. Many of these systems have been recreated at an enlarged scale so visitors can test their assemblies at eight central play stations. Additional digital features include VR model worlds programmed by HFT students. Dozens of completed models illustrate the range of architectural ideas represented across the kits, and the full collection is documented in an accompanying catalogue. The exhibition is accompanied by a public competition titled How Small Can Architecture Be?, which invites participants to submit miniature architectural models for display.

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In April 2024, the Diriyah Biennale Foundation announced the AlMusalla Prize, an international architecture competition focused on designing a musalla: a flexible space for prayer and reflection accessible to people of all faiths. The winning project, designed by EAST Architecture Studio in collaboration with artist Rayyane Tabet and engineering firm AKT II, is a modular structure built with materials derived from local date palm waste, including fronds and fibers, and inspired by regional weaving traditions. Installed in the Western Hajj Terminal of King Abdulaziz International Airport in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, the musalla served for four months during the Islamic Arts Biennale as a space for prayer, welcoming both Muslim and non-Muslim visitors. Conceived to be dismantled and reassembled, the structure was recently relocated to Uzbekistan for the inaugural Bukhara Biennial 2025.

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Design for assembly (DFA) is hardly new. Thonet’s 1859 No. 14 chair, when disassembled, could be shipped in batches of 36 per 40-square-inch box.

Those cost savings tied to DFA are still valuable. And as it helped revolutionize shipping in the industrial era, it now carries prestige as a powerful carbon-reduction tool. In fact, DFA is currently the distinguishing feature of at least six highly visible product launches among commercial furniture manufacturers in just the past year.

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