Repair/Podreperować

Warsaw, Poland — July 28–August 2, 2024

When things break, they reveal their true nature. When they’re fixed they are re-enchanted. Urban theorist Nigel Thrift has drawn attention to the “remorseless work of repair and maintenance” that keeps cities humming.

Can repair also be social and political?

Repair is a constant need and a constant choice. As things break and break down, from toasters to cars to roofs to laptops, we can choose to repair or replace. The economical and environmental choice is to repair, but the choice to replace is more convenient. Repair is also a critical theme to explore in an age of waning resources and exponentially growing environmental issues, many caused by excessive waste.

Framed around these ideas, DesignInquiry’s event Repair/Podreperować will take place at the National Institute of Architecture and Urbanisation in Warsaw. It will take the form of a week-long practice based investigation of repair as a hidden act of urban, social and political enchantment and a model for futuring cities.DesignInquiry residencies are immersive, experimental, and unconventional gatherings that invite detours and allow space to challenge assumptions, expand boundaries, and emerge with fresh insights.

We invite participants with a convivial attitude, healthy appetite, developing research and a willingness to embrace elastic experiences and reframe the structure.

We seek the curious, the playful, the awkward, the profound to get inspired, distracted, diverted, lost, found, and renewed at the intersection of our collective research.