This concept is brilliant: Designer Samual James Davies' Repair-Ware line (which currently consists of the steam iron, shown above) is based on the idea that household appliances should be easy to maintain and fix yourself. In other words, Davies is endeavoring to create a "culture of repair" that is as reliant on the manufacturer's knowledge of the product as it is the user's!

Samuel James Davies writes this on his website:

This culture is created through a website and forum which allow the user to share knowledge, learn, buy new parts and ultimately carry out their own repairs.

The products are fully and easily dismantable. Designed to be taken apart and put together again intuitively, they actively make repairing simple.

Aesthetically they take queues from older products, hinting towards when products were built to last and trying reduce throwawayism. Whilst using a traditional set of materials to create a feeling of longevity, they do so with more contemporary forms allowing a fresh product that won’t easily circum to fashion.

The steam iron shown above, for example, is fastened together by two prominent screws that can be unscrewed with a penny.

Super cool.

Via TreeHugger

(Images: sjdavies)