Upgrade: Making Things Better

A practical antidote to the mindset of disposability and wastefulness

This volume addresses the widespread tendency to discard broken items rather than to refurbish them. Despite the negative ecological effects of overconsumption, overproduction and waste, the habit of replacing rather than repairing goods has persisted and even worsened over recent decades. To counteract this trend, students at the University of Applied Sciences in Munich and ETH Zurich have been developing imaginative concepts for repairing a wide variety of objects, applying them both manually and by using digital techniques such as 3D printing. Beyond restoration, many projects develop and improve the repaired objects constructively, materially, or even in terms of design, lending them new value. This publication presents a variety of approaches and projects, plus essays by notable personalities from the fields of architecture, preservation, materials science, design, manufacturing and craft.