Tools for living
Part of what makes the world an exciting place to navigate is the ability to see peoples actions, decisions and ideas embedded in the fabric of our cities. What makes a forest exciting is the absence of these actions. What is not exciting are decisions, actions and ideas hidden from our observant eyes: designed objects that leave no trail of breadcrumbs about how they have been put together, how they could be fixed, maintained or repurposed.
Our desire to feel not just ownership but responsibility for the objects around us will inform how our world is put together and how it looks. As Pearson Lloyd call it, ‘The aesthetics of circularity’; rejecting practices such as glueing textiles to foams and avoiding composites, will inevitably change how things look. Objects destined for failure also have an aesthetic, often looking incredibly simple on the outside with extreme complexity internally. We know these objects don’t inspire curiosity to repair, so our objects have to change. They need to enthuse us to love them and fix them for as long as possible.
Apple have recently been forced to change the charger for its iPhones in the European Union from autumn 2024 to comply with new rules introducing a single charging port for most electronic devices. The reform is the first of its kind anywhere in the world and it will reduce waste. The argument from these big companies is always that this will stop innovation, but if innovation creates waste which can’t be processed, then this cannot be a price worth paying.
Last week my partner’s Dualit toaster broke, so I simply Googled how to fix it. A long list of videos came up. I clicked on the one that said — ‘How to replace the elements in a Dualit toaster: Easy Peasy!’ — and it was. More things like this please. It’s a crazy thought, someone sat in a room designing something with the very purpose of obsolescence. There are examples of makeshift improvements of these objects. We found a person who sews zips into hoover-bags and haven't bought one since.
The UK's 'Right to Repair' law was introduced in July 2021 with the aim of extending the life of objects. The right to repair is something we all need to get into our vocabulary. All of the objects around us are tools for living, and we should do our best to make them fixable. It’s one of the great lessons learned from spaces like workshops or kitchens, which can be applied to all our spaces.