Spotted: The electronic devices and appliances industry is in the bottom ten of Kantar’s 2023 Sustainability Sector Index (SSI) rankings, which means it has inherent issues and needs radical innovation. German startup Open Funk is providing that innovation for one type of electronic appliance: the kitchen mixer or blender.
The company has created a blender, called Re:Mix, which has a customisable casing and is made from 100 per cent recycled plastic. The device is made up of modular components to enable the easy repair and upgrading of parts – either at the company’s Berlin workshop or at home. At-home repairs like this are possible thanks to the device’s open-source design.
The blender works with any of a customer’s standard twist-off glass jars, provided they have the right-sized opening. And if a customer no longer wants their Re:Mix, Open Funk will buy it back for refurbishment and resale.
The idea for Open Funk came when co-founder Paul Anca attempted to fix a blender that had broken within months of purchase. Unable to carry out the repairs himself, and determined not to add to the millions of tonnes of e-waste that is generated each year, he took it to a repair shop and was quoted €50 “just to have a look at it.”
Spurred on by this unsatisfactory experience, Anca and his co-founder Ken Rostand devoted themselves to understanding how blenders are put together and why they break. Crowdsourcing broken blenders from Facebook, the pair discovered that the root of the problem lay in cheap materials and the gluing together of components for rapid assembly. The result of their inquiries was Re:Mix, which is made to be repaired and upgraded, with parts replaced over time.
Selected earlier this year as a participant in Amazon’s Sustainability Accelerator, Open Funk has since sent out its first batch of orders.
Springwise has spotted other innovators taking kitchen appliances to the next level, including a novel, low-energy cooking device and a countertop compost machine.
Danish furniture company Takt has launched Spoke Sofa, a sofa that can be fully disassembled and have its parts replaced and recycled, in Copenhagen for 3 Days of Design.
Spoke Sofa, which is the brand’s first sofa, was developed in collaboration with Norwegian studio Anderssen & Voll.
Rooted in circular principles, it aims to provide an alternative to conventional sofas, which are “notoriously wasteful,” according to the brand.
All elements of the Spoke Sofa can be replaced by hand
The brand intends for the Spoke Sofa to be passed down through generations by undergoing maintenance when required.
Rather than disposing of the entire seat and replacing the sofa, users can take the sofa apart and replace parts of it themselves.
“All of the joints are exposed and mechanical, so simple tools can be used to disassemble the sofa, then you can order a replacement part from our website to repair it yourself,” said the brand.
“Spoke is fully EU Ecolabelled – the official European Union label for environmental excellence – and has been designed for repair, so that all components and upholstery can be replaced with spare parts, extending the life of the sofa indefinitely,” Takt added.
The cushions can be upholstered in a choice of seven coloured fabrics
Takt chose to focus on the sofa as a product as they can be difficult to recycle.
“The sofa category is notoriously wasteful, so we always had our eye on it as one to address,” Takt founder and CEO Henrik Taudorf Lorensen told Dezeen.
The Spoke Sofa’s base is made from a choice of responsibly sourced beech or oak grown in Europe.
Its upholstery is deliberately loose-fit, allowing easy removal for cleaning purposes, and was made by textile brand Gabriel from 98 per cent post-consumer recycled polyester.
The material itself is 100 per cent recyclable, the brand said.
“We designed and specified the upholstery to ensure the user could actually take it off, wash it at home at 40C and mount it again – or replace it with a new set if it’s damaged or you want to change the appearance,” Takt said.
Wooden spokes along the back of the sofa give it its name
The three-seater sofa is topped by lozenge-shaped cushions that can be moved freely to accommodate a range of uses, including socialising, lounging and as a day bed.
The frame itself is characterised by the rhythmically placed tapered spokes that run along the back of the seat.
“Spokes such as these are an age-old means of creating a flat supporting surface and have been a feature of English and Scandinavian utility chairs for centuries,” said Takt.
“Spoke Sofa takes this traditional craft technique and incorporates it into a distinctly contemporary aesthetic expression, foregrounding simplicity, comfort and natural materiality.”
The sofa was designed to be passed down
The brand hopes that the sofa’s design will give it a longer life.
“We believe that furniture should be loved, cared for and handed down to future generations,” Taudorf Lorensen continued.
“This is why all of our furniture is designed for repair. Our customers become familiar with every component during the surprisingly enjoyable assembly process. So when life happens, they can identify the right part to repair or replace.”
Other recent sustainable furniture designs include outdoor seating with woven seats made from old fire hoses by Local Works Studio and furniture and accessories for a restaurant made from its own food waste by Carolina Härdh.
The photography is by Claudia Vega.
Spoke Sofa is on view at at Original Coffee, Store Kongensgade 124 as part of 3 Days of Design 2023, from 7 June to 9 June 2023. See Dezeen Events Guide for information about the event, plus a list of other architecture and design events taking place around the world.
Spotted: It is estimated that global capacity for wind power will be over 955 gigawatts by the end of 2022, with China leading the way with 359,770 turbines as of June this year. However, the large number of wind turbines across the globe also means there is a rapidly growing need for innovative wind turbine maintenance systems – especially for offshore turbines. Company Aerones has designed a system that uses drones to conduct such maintenance work.
Aerones offers inspection, cleaning, and repair services using a variety of different drones and tools. For example, its robotic cleaning system uses a powerful brush to clean dust and oil, reusing water during cleaning to reduce waste. Other drones in the company’s repertoire can repair blades using a modular tool base that can sand, fill eroded surfaces, apply protective coatings, and more.
In addition to the utility of its system, Aerones offers reassurance that the system does not take jobs away from technicians. Instead, the company says that the drones are each controlled by certified technicians “from the comfort of a warm vehicle”. In addition, it claims that the robotic tools are more precise and efficient than technicians acting alone, resulting in four to six times less downtime.
The company adds that its “unique proprietary system brings high-quality robotic services enabling our wind turbine technicians to perform inspections, cleaning, maintenance and repairs (…) Robots will allow the wind industry to turn towards fast and efficient preventive maintenance.”
Wind power is big business and is increasingly being seen as a vital tool in reaching net zero. Springwise has also spotted a floating vertical axis wind turbine and recyclable onshore turbines.
A rattan cast created to protect the damaged wing of a toy puffin and a fractured plate held together with steel staples feature in R for Repair, an exhibition of repaired objects presented at the V&A museum as part of London Design Festival.
Curated by Jane Withers and Hans Tan, the exhibition is the second edition of R for Repair, and follows the first iteration of the show that was held in Singapore last year.
R for Repair is on display at the V&A in London
The show presented at London’s V&A museum includes 10 damaged objects repaired by 10 different designers from Singapore or the UK. They are displayed alongside three repaired objects from the original exhibition.
Responding to an open call, members of the public were invited to contribute sentimental but broken objects to the project. Designers chosen by Withers and Tan then repaired the objects in various creative ways.
Ng Si Ying repaired a toy puffin by creating a rattan cast for its wing
Designer Ng Si Ying created a cast and belt out of rattan and thread for Graham Secrets, a toy puffin owned by UK-based Oli Stratford, which was a gift from the owner’s parents on his 30th birthday.
Originally made by Danish silversmith and designer Kay Bojesen in 1954, the object was damaged by Stratford’s cat. Ying created a cast for the puffin’s wing in Singapore using an intricate weaving technique.
Rio Kobayashi used Japanese joinery to adapt an antique sewing chest
“We wanted to pair designers who would be sympathetic to the owner’s emotional attachment and what are often quite moving stories behind the objects and why the owners treasure them, but might also have an unexpected take on the object and add new layers of meaning, enriching this evolving narrative of ownership,” Withers told Dezeen.
“We also looked for designers who might bring interesting techniques and unexpected experimentation to the repairs.”
The chest now has space to display drawings and paintings
Another object repaired for the 2022 edition of the exhibition is an 18th-century antique sewing chest owned by Eleanor Suggett Stephens in the UK, which she inherited from her grandmother.
Suggett Stephens discovered that the chest contained previously unseen sketches and watercolour paintings by her grandmother, who wanted to be an artist but never achieved her dream.
Other objects include a repaired doll’s house by Studiomama
London-based designer Rio Kobayashi used traditional Japanese joinery techniques to raise the furniture’s feet, and also created a large tabletop designed to display and celebrate the secret artwork.
Kobayashi used walnut, ash, cherry, sapele, paint and glass to repair the chest, which Suggett Stephens said “represents that creative dream which never happened for [my grandma] and reminds me how fortunate I am to have a career in the arts.”
Studio Dam put a broken plate back together with staples
Other objects in the exhibition include a porcelain dinner plate that broke down the middle and was repaired with steel staples and epoxy glue by Studio Dam in Singapore.
British owners Karen Birkin and screenwriter Andrew Birkin, brother of actor Jane Birkin, submitted the plate for repair with an entirely open brief. Andrew Birkin quipped that Studio Dam could make a spaceship out of it.
In response, the multidisciplinary studio took visual cues from Stanley Kubrick’s film 2001: A Space Odyssey, which Andrew Birkin worked on early in his career.
Studio Dam was informed by juci, a traditional Chinese porcelain repair technique that involves the use of metal staples.
At the V&A, the objects are presented on bright yellow boxes
“On one hand, the primary motivation was to bring creativity to repair through design,” explained Tan, discussing the exhibition.
“At the same time, we thought having designers and objects from two countries would add a dimension to the project as a design and cultural exchange.”
Tzen Chia playfully repaired a glass bottle for an anonymous owner
Withers also added that the exhibition intends to celebrate the process of repair and encourage the idea of giving possessions a second life.
“I think it is important to broaden the discussion around repair and explore the psychological as well as functional dimension,” concluded Withers.
“To understand why we keep things and how that can inform the design of products. How can things be designed with repair in mind so they improve with age?”
As London Design Festival kicks off in the capital, see other installations that are part of the event, such as a collection of rotating stone chairs by Sabine Marcelis.
R for Repair is on display at the V&A in London from 17 September to 2 November.
London Design Festival 2022 takes place from 17-25 September 2022. See our London Design Festival 2022 guide on Dezeen Events Guide for information about the many other exhibitions, installations and talks taking place throughout the week.
Spotted: There are roughly 70 million kilometres of road worldwide. Most roads are made using oil-based bitumen to bind the small pieces of crushed materials together. Maintaining and repairing such an extensive network currently involves trucking in new materials to fill holes and cracks on heavy duty construction vehicles. All of this combines to make roads significant polluters.
That may be changing soon, thanks to Norwegian startup Carbon Crusher. Using dedicated machinery and a paper industry byproduct, the company has developed a carbon negative road repair process. This new process recycles the old road surface by scraping off the top layer and crushing it. Carbon Crusher’s machine greatly reduces the size of the pieces of road, which, when bonded together with lignin (a natural byproduct of the paper industry), create a more flexible, sustainable surface.
By scraping off the entire road surface and crushing it small enough for reuse in smooth, uniform application, Carbon Crusher eliminates the need to bring in new materials to fill previous surface damage. Lignin’s flexibility also helps reduce long-term maintenance costs as roads become more resilient and strong.
Carbon Crusher is currenlty focusing on developing its equipment and the roads themselves. Yet future plans include making roads act as chargers for electric vehicles. Moreover, further reductions in time and resource cost could be achieved by making the machinery autonomous and hydrogen powered.
Several innovators are seeking ways to make wheeled transport smarter and more efficient. Recent innovations spotted by Springwise include new methods for turning roads into power generators and connected bike helmets that keep riders and drivers safer.
