Through developments in fabrication technologies in recent years, it is now possible to build and characterize much more sophisticated 3D platforms than was formerly the case. Regions of differing polarity, binding behaviour, flexibility/rigidity can now be incorporated into these fluidic systems. Furthermore, materials that can switch these characteristics can be incorporated, enabling the creation of microfluidic building blocks that exhibit switchable characteristics such as programmed microvehicle movement (chemotaxis), switchable binding and release, switchable soft polymer actuation (e.g. valving), and selective uptake and release of molecular targets. These building blocks can be in turn integrated into microfluidic systems with hitherto unsurpassed functionalities that can contribute to bridging the gap between what is required and what science can currently deliver for many challenging applications. Recent developments now enable complex 3D arrangements of soft, switchable polymer gel structures to be created with sub-micron feature size resolution, opening completely new possibilities for control of the chemistry of liquid-solid system. This emerging transition from existing engineering-inspired 2D to bioinspired 3D fluidic concepts appears to represent a major turning point in the evolution of microfluidics. For example, implementation of these disruptive concepts may open the way to realising biochemical sensing systems with performance characteristics far beyond those of current devices.