Beyond Repair
Rotterdam Architecture Biennale
2024 x group show
In collaboration with a group of artists and makers, led by Phineas Harper, we formed the collective ‘Beyond Repair’ as part of the 2024 International Architecture Biennale Rotterdam (IABR) - Nature of Hope. Together we collectively brought new life to an assemblage of found objects, celebrating the process of repair and varied outcomes it provides.
The team was Phineas Harper, Lucas Facer, Sanju Jitendhar, Thomas Randall-Page, Smith Mordak, Allegra FitzHerbert, Kate Bowman, Kit Jones
Of the 222 million tonnes of waste the UK produces annually, about 62% is from construction and architecture. High carbon economies like Britain and the Netherlands are addicted to the wrecking ball – knocking down tens of thousands of decent buildings every year rather than refurbishing or upgrading them.
Transitioning to a just and ecological economy must, in part, centre on revivifying a culture of repair, care, maintenance and restoration. Creatively embracing repair does not just mean practically extending the lifespan of objects to reduce waste, but imbuing places and things with new meaning and texture enriched by many hands. Collective, expressive and less resource-intensive than buying or building new, repair could be the heart of exuberant aesthetic and social traditions – easing the dominance of industrial expansionism while nourishing cultural life.
Beyond Repair is a collection of found objects, some pulled from skips or found on the street, brought back from the brink of disintegration through playful and characterful repair. Many of the objects are not valuable vintage heirlooms but mass produced products made artificially cheap by manufactures who exploit unfair wage differences across borders in international supply chains. In foregrounding these items, the installation exposes the absurdity of globalisation which often makes it more costly to carry out even a simple repair than buying new.
Together this tableau of patched up and reborn objects forms a physical manifesto for more and more exuberant repairs in architecture and beyond.