SMASH REPAIR 3

Designed in collaboration with Martijn Dijkhuizen.

An investigation into the aesthetics of repair, SMASH REPAIR 3 was built live at Platform 21 in Amsterdam in the summer of 2009, for the gallery’s REPAIR MANIFESTO. The project was later exhibited during Dutch Design Week 2009 at the exhibition Pieces of Objects, curated by L.E Lab, Dutch and then at the significant exhibition Repair at ARS Electronica in 2010 in Austria.

SMASH REPAIR is a structure built up using a generative system of smashing and repair. In each cycle of repair, tiles are added, increasing structural strength where it is needed. After the last cycle, the ninth smash and repair, any material that had not been broken was removed, leaving an object that was ‘100% repaired’. The process is made possible by the design of the substructure and the repair tiles which feature ‘break lines’  – areas which direct impact forces through the tiles, but around the bolt holes necessary for each subsequent repair. In this way the structure can be smashed over and over again, yet retain its capability  to be repaired.

the 7 stories of SMASH REPAIR (PDF) – multiple stories are generated and metaphorically bolted onto the SMASH REPAIR frame in this photo essay.