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Tomi's hands moved with practiced ease, cleanly tearing open the foil coffee bag. With a fluid twist of the wrist, he began scooping the finely ground coffee into the paper filter nestled in the coffeemaker's basket. “Do you have a specific ground-to-water ratio?” I asked. “One-to-one,” Tomi replied, his tone calm but focused on the task at hand. After switching on the machine, the red light glowed. Shortly, a low growl filled the cluttered studio, and the rich, dark aroma of brewing coffee permeated the air as chocolate-colored drops slowly dripped into the pot. One of the students beside me murmured, “That’s amazing.” In truth, there was nothing special about it. It was a standard coffee machine sold in Finland. Yet, this moment was special. Tomi’s replacement of a broken glass tube inside the machine with a copper one brought a broken coffee machine back to life, potentially for another decade.

This is what Broken II looked like. Broken II is a repair course that Mikko Jalas and I ran for the first time from January to March 2025. Around twelve students repaired over thirty items ranging from a chair with family history to unworn clothes, an old iPod, and forgotten computer mice hiding in desk drawers. Together with the masters of FabLab, costume, steel, and wood workshops, we studied broken stuff and the best ways of bringing it back to life. 

Repair is not a new concept; it is a longstanding practice. We all have stories of our grandparents extending the life of belongings: mending socks, repurposing broken furniture, or even fixing cars. However, our consumer-driven society has fostered a culture of replacement. Most electric products are designed in a short production cycle without considering durability. Fast fashion brands produce hundreds or thousands of new items every season. This has conditioned us to buy new instead of repair. Though we know the concept, we do not act on it.

As sustainability students, we also face this same contradictory reality. We understand that extending the lifespan of products is crucial for reducing waste and contributing to making society more sustainable. However, opportunities to acquire repair skills or simply practice repair are rare even for us, and individual home repairs have limitations. This gap is precisely what Broken II tries to address. We offer a practical learning opportunity where we practice repairs and figure out how to bring a fundamental shift in how we design, manufacture, and value products.

From the last Broken II course, we learned that repairing is a social practice. Students tried to fix their own items, but we also shared the stories behind the items and collaborated to find the best repair solutions. Repairing accompanies sharing knowledge and creating a community of like-minded people around the act of mending.

For instance, a skilled student demonstrated an iPhone battery replacement for the group. Our studio buzzed with conversations about repairs and sustainability. This collective atmosphere fostered a change in individual behavior as well. One design student successfully welded a steel chair, and engineering students discovered a passion for repairing clothes with sewing machines. They shared the joy that they likely would not have experienced without the course, meeting fellow enthusiasts, and working together with them. Plus, we celebrated the successful regeneration of objects, as we did with the Moka coffee machine.

If you agree with my point of view on our consumer-driven society and the need for practicing repairs, take a look at your drawers today. You might find something broken or outdated waiting for a second life through repair. Bring those items and join us when the course returns next January!

Photos by Sushmita Charlu.