Modularity: The solution for green tradeshow exhibit designs

Modular tradeshow exhibit design systems were originally designed as an economical solution and were marketed for their features such as easy shipping and handling, easy set-up and a potential for reconfiguration of the components. This potential for reconfiguration is underutilized in the current modular systems, due to difficulty in understanding how to use and re-use the system components. Though modularity is considered as a sustainable measure in allied fields of architecture, industrial design etc, in the tradeshow design field the topic of the sustainable or “green” design seem to be limited to material selection, recycling or conserving energy. This study tries to make modular exhibit systems easier to use and reconfigure the components into a variety of different exhibits. This ability for reconfiguration− a material resource reduction feature− can be better understood as a sustainable choice in tradeshow exhibits. This study accomplishes this through the design of modular kits formed of components from the Lacet System (now a defunct modular system) and the design of multiple exhibit prototypes reconfigured from each kit.