The course Together-Repair held at the Department of Design and Architecture in the Iceland Academy of the Arts seeks to enhance collaboration between design disciplines and local agents with the aim of using design as an instrument for social change.
 
“The fundamental goal of design is no longer the production of yet another chair. It’s a form of inquiry, and of agency.” Jan Boelen (Head of Social Design, Design Academy Eindhoven)
 
“Design contributes to the evolution of individual human capital and defines our collectively held social capital.” Alastair Faud-Luke
 
The course Together-Repair is about social design and social change. Design can be used as a tool to rethink everyday life, to transform ideas about industrial production, government, public and private space, pre-established systems and networks, and to generate new forms of activism, political consciousness, and community. Design is a research process that can act as an agent of change in the society. Social design means putting people first and thinking of the impact that design and making processes have on society. Can social links be ‘repaired’ or strengthened? How can design promote participation in the creation of a greater good?
 
 
The teams composed by Mentors, Facilitators and Students all from the Iceland Academy of the Arts together with different and diverse Local Agencies collaborate together in building projects or interventions able to repair and improve a social issue in the Icelandic society. Together-Repair seeks to strengthen the collaboration between different disciplines, create new networks with local agencies and citizens, in order to create a positive social impact. Each project addresses specific needs and becomes a Designer Activist. “A Designer Activist uses the power of design for the greater good of humankind and nature. A person who is a free agent; a non-aligned social broker and catalyst; a facilitator; an author; a creator; a co-author; a co-creator; and a happener (someone who makes things happen).” Alastair Faud-Luke
 
Höfundar
Birna Geirfinnsdóttir
Garðar Eyjólfsson
Halldóra Guðrún Ísleifsdóttir
Katrín María Káradóttir
Lóa Auðunsdóttir
Massimo Santanicchia
Sigrún Birgisdóttir
Thomas Pausz
 
Period
2014 - 
 
Supervision
Massimo Santanichhia (2014-2016)
Marteinn Sindri Jónsson and Sinéad McCarron (2017)
 
Participants
First year students from MA Design and second year students from all of the department's Bachelor Programmes.
 
Collaborators 
Álfagarðurinn
Austurbæjarskóli
Barnaheill – Save the Children Iceland
Department Service Center and Hlíðar.
Frú Lauga
Gagarín
Gljúfrasteinn - hús skáldsins / Laxness museum
Grasagarður Reykjavíkur
Hjallastefnan
Hjálpræðisherinn - Salvation Army
Hvassaleiti Félagsstarf
Icelandic Design Centre
Icelandic Institute of Natural History
Icelandic Red Cross
Icelandic Tourism Research Centre
Konukot
Mentor Project Vinátta
Restaurant Dill
Reykjavik City
Reykjavík UNESCO City of Literature
Skaftholt, Farm Accomodation
Slow Food Iceland
Strætó
Sunnuhlíð
The City of Reykjavik for the Human Rights Office
The Department of Welfare in Reykjavik
The Environment Agency of Iceland
The Icelandic Tourist Board
Týs Gallery
University of Iceland
Vakandi
W.O.M.E.N. (Women of Multicultural Ethnicity Network in Iceland)