Towards a Radical Practice of Repair
co-designing approaches to care for public infrastructure
MS DESIGN & URBAN ECOLOGIES
climate change; exacerbated by impacts of colonialism and the expansion of racial capitalism
obsession with economic growth and fetishization of creating new infrastructure and spaces labeled as sustainable.
policy and financing focus on reconfiguring existing arrangements of the social and the natural
Dealing with climate change requires new frameworks and points of entry to understand our dynamics with our ecologies, expose existing frictions, and create new spatial practices that address diverse community needs and desires.
What does repair mean in the context of urban life, and how can we reimagine it as a transformative, collective practice?
Objective 1
To investigate the sites, processes and impacts of repair practices in New York City
Objective 2
To explore the potential of participatory & co-design strategies for repair work
Objective 3
To emphasize the potential of repair thinking as a tool for fostering better negotiated environments
Right
to the City
Henri Lefebvre
Critical Care Practices
Angelika Fitz and Elke Krasny
Social Reproduction Theory
Silvia Federici ; Nancy Fraser
Broken-World Thinking
Steven Jackson ; Shannon Mattern
Desire-Based Research
Eve-Tuck
THE LANDSCAPE OF REPAIR & MAINTENANCE IN NYC
This is a set of interactive charts exploring the various organizations and stakeholders that operate in the repair and maintenance space in NYC.
CASE STUDIES INTERVIEWS
Liliana Coehlo The Maintainers
Acacia Thompson GEEC, BPL
Peter Mui
Fixit Clinic
Rachel Smith & Sam Bennet Repair Shop/Repair Hub
Liz Harvey The Mending Collective
Vita Wells Culture of Repair
Government Stewardship Programs, NYC + Repair Hub, CEE, Greenpoint BPL + New Urban Mechanics, Boston
1
Repairing relationships among communities, and between them and their environments + objects
2 3
Community-informed and participatory maintenance strategies for public environments
Lack of opportunity for the transfer of intergenerational knowledge
4
Lack of funding and resources for repair efforts; plans often focus on “innovative”technologies instead
Repairing the network of institutions, organizations and people working on repair to build towards collective effort
Disproportionate burden of care & repair responsibilities on marginalized communities + invisibility of informal networks of care & repair
Lack of existing toolkits and guides for integrating repair cafes, workshops, and tool libraries
Libraries as centers for community engagement, skillsharing, and capacity building
Crowd-sourced Repair Map
An interactive map that allows community members to document and visualize repair needs, informal repair spaces, and locations in need of attention, fostering collective awareness and action.
Public Repairs
Toolkit
A comprehensive guide designed to help communities organize and lead repair efforts in their neighborhoods. It includes templates for planning, advocacy, and collaboration, empowering local residents to take charge of public infrastructure.
Workshop Facilitation Guide
A practical resource for facilitating repair workshops, offering step-by-step instructions for engaging communities to learn about their repair needs, . This guide helps build skills and capacity while fostering collaboration around urban repair.
Pilot Workshop with Park Slope Repair Group
Date & Location: May 10th, 2025
Principles GI, Brooklyn
Collaborators: Co-conducted with Ellie Cody
Purpose Key Activities
Outcomes
The workshop served as the first collaborative step in testing tools for community-centered repair work. It aimed to engage local residents in mapping repair needs and identifying solutions for public infrastructure repair in their neighborhood.
Investigating local repair needs and fostering collective action through identifying spatial gaps and neglected infrastructure; co-designing repair tools and envisioning a community repair hub.
Feedback on the tools' functionality, with suggestions for improvement. Participants expressed interest in future collaborations, and insights for the Park Slope Repair Group's vision of a community-oriented repair space.
Desire for Skill-Sharing
Participants expressed a strong interest in deepening their repair skills and finding spaces that encourage knowledge sharing and community collaboration.
Lack of Communal Repair Spaces
There is a clear need for accessible, community-driven repair hubs. Currently, repair services are primarily transactional, leaving a gap in informal, learning-based environments.
Existing Models
Participants drew inspiration from communal models like tool libraries and shared repair systems, suggesting that these could be adapted for neighborhood repair spaces.
Vision for a Repair Café:
A multifunctional repair café was envisioned, with well-equipped workstations, skill-sharing sessions, and integrated digital platforms (e.g., crowdsourced maps) to facilitate real-time coordination and collaboration.
Continued partnership with Park Slope Repair Group
Field-based dissemination of resources
Feedback-based adjustments to toolkits & crowdsourced map
Research & Implementation across contexts (NYC → Karachi)
Take a moment to think of a place or something in your know that’s in need of repair, or perhaps a place where you’ve gone to have something fixed.
If you feel inspired, consider adding it to the map and help us continue the conversation about collective repair.
