eugenia morpurgo: repair it yourself

Repair It Yourself

The activity of repairing is a form of re-appropriating control on our material world, allowing us to understand how things function and acting as a key tool for the consumer to control his post-consumption goods (waste). Shoes are one of those products that, with the rise of consumerism and mass production, evolved drastically from a completely repairable object; and the active social-economical structure that existed around shoe repair is slowly disappearing. Shoes, both crafted and industrially manufactured, are almost always assembled through irreversible connections, stitching and/or gluing. This means that components such as the sole and the upper, although commonly made of two very different materials, are inseparable. Throughout use, shoes are worn and damaged both in the sole and in the upper.

These shoes are designed with a reversible connection between the sole and the upper, allowing the repair process to be more transparent in relation to the material the individual component is made of.

This project brings back in the hand of the consumers tools and knowledge for repairing. The shoes come with a repair kit specifically designed for them, but which can also be used to repair other goods in the house.

Repair It Yourself was shown in the masters graduation galleries at the design academy eindhoven during dutch design week 2011.

The Shoe is composed by 3 components: sole, upper and insole.

Darning re-creates the damage structure weaving it again with needle and thread.

Detail darned shoe.

Felting re-creates the damaged structure of the textile with felt wool and a punching needle.

Detail felted shoe.

Patching covers the damage, ironing another piece of fabric coated with a thermo-glue.

Detail patched shoe.

Repaired shoes.

Close up of the sole.

http://www.eumo.it/