The Fixoteket repair center was built by architecture students this past year. We were able to see what they had already built, start improvements, and landscape the area outside the workshop.

Today was the first day of the Dare2Build workshop. The workshop focuses on building a repair workshop and recycling center for the primarily immigrant community in Hammarkullen. The name of the repair workshop is Fixoteket. I was able to meet many architecture students from all across Europe and work with them on possible designs and sketches.

Everyone on the Compostmate team arrived in Gothenburg today! It is my first time in Sweden and I am very eager to have the opportunity to work with students at Chalmers in the following days. I am blown away by how much public transportation there is!

    

[Left] Joined our friend Jackson and his friends for a rooftop barbecue and met up with Team Växthus. We got to try Anamma Formbar Färs burgers–the tastiest soy burger I’ve ever had! (PC Jackson/Harrison)

[Middle] Went indoor rock climbing at the Klätterlabbet with Caroline and new friends, Marina, Eva, and Pär. Klätterlabbet has the highest lead climbing wall I’ve ever seen! It’s like a vertical marathon climbing four stories in an old high voltage electrical lab turned climbing gym.

[Right] Worked on job applications on the dock (where our houseboat’s wifi extended) until 1 AM. There was still enough light to walk around, and the photo there was taken around 12:30 AM, showing the light of a Scandinavian sunset.

Day 1 in Gothenburg – checking in to our AirBnB houseboat! We’re filling the AirBnB to capacity (3 people, two beds and a couch), which means we’re sharing a set reservoir of water and energy.  Though it should be enough to last us the week and can be replenished, the idea of shared, somewhat-off-the-grid living makes for a pretty cool way to spend our time here, and hopefully will facilitate low energy use, low water waste lifestyles like the communities aim for here in Sweden!

Team Mission Compostable arrived in Gothenburg on Saturday and met up with Jackson, one of our Chalmers counterparts, who showed us around the city. Sunday was spent exploring the city, walking through the lovely streets and parks, and capped off with a barbecue with a group of Chalmers students and Team Vaxthus. It’s so easy to lose track of time when it stays light until 11 pm.

Monday was our first day of work and we spent it at the Dare2Build workshop with Shea, Larry, and many more.  We are joining an ongoing project that aims to provide the community in Hammarkullen with a space containing tools and materials that can be used to repair broken items instead of throwing them away. I unfortunately forgot to take any pictures of the site or the people we worked with, but I will attempt to remedy that over the next few days.

Check out a time lapse of the assembly work that Team Växthus did in the Living Lab on our first full day in Gothenburg.