Harold's sponsors the German Pavilion at the 2023 Biennale

Harold's supports the German Pavilion at the 2023 Biennale

The starting point for the extraordinary decision to support the German Pavilion at the Biennale 2023 was the publication of the Archplus issue in January of this year, entitled " The Great Repair ." Archplus is an architecture and urban planning magazine that repeatedly addresses societal, social, and political issues. Consequently, the topic of sustainability has also been a focus of attention for several years. In the aforementioned January issue of this year, "The Great Repair," Archplus presents a comprehensive concept of sustainability for the first time. The starting point is the so-called "Earth Overshoot Day." It determines the point in time within a year when the resources provided by the earth year after year are used up. After that, humanity lives at the expense of the future. Currently, this point in time falls on July 28th! The articles presented in the magazine do not solely seek salvation in the development of new technologies, but rather focus on the concept of sufficiency—although not exclusively. Implementing this concept requires a shift in values that prioritizes the assessment of existing resources over new ones. The process of this transformation is analyzed from an economic and, above all, social perspective, but also from an accounting perspective. The inflated valuation of new things is easily recognized by the fact that automobiles depreciate most sharply in their first year. Reversing the Earth Overshoot Day movement requires a mindset that focuses on the existing and how it is dealt with. In this respect, maintenance, repair, and restoration become the focus of evaluation—and consequently, a cyclical process with regard to repairability, change, and innovation through repair. This is also being incorporated into the conception of new productions, with the systematic goal of extending their service life. Archplus (together with Summacumfemmer and Büro Juliane Greb) was subsequently commissioned to curate the German Pavilion at the 2023 Biennale. The concept will be presented at the Biennale under the title OPEN FOR MAINTENANCE – OPEN FOR RENOVATION .

This is a working method we introduced at Harold's in 2011. Regardless of statutory warranties, we decided at the time to accept and carry out every repair. In the process, we examined each repair, documented important findings, and incorporated them into the reproduction of existing products and the design of new ones. Continuing this approach, we have increasingly focused on repairability in recent years—including by the customer themselves. This involves a lot of predicting what can happen due to wear and tear, use, but also unsustainable production. The ultimate goal is to fulfill our brand concept and, above all, to further develop it:

Companions for a Lifetime

Bags are certainly the smallest detail among the major themes. But the "Great Repair" issue and this year's theme in the German Pavilion demonstrate the surprising parallels to the much larger and more important area of the built environment. It confirms our path so far, that with our understanding and working methods since 2011, we have made a small contribution to reversing Earth Overshoot Day. But it also shows us that we cannot rest on our laurels. The publications so far motivate us and give us new ideas for how we can further develop this path. We hope that the exhibition will be a major driving force for us and for the world.