Julia Watson & Lo–TEK Design UP056
Born in Australia but based in New York, Julia Watson is leading the field in search of Lo—TEK indigenous, nature-based technologies for climate-resilient design. She teaches urban design at the Harvard Graduate School of Design, and at Columbia University's Graduate School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation.
Indigenous communities are pioneers of technologies that offer solutions to climate change, according to designer and environmentalist Julia Watson. In her new book “Lo–TEK Design by Radical Indigenism” Watson argues that tribal communities, seen by many as primitive, are highly advanced when it comes to creating systems in symbiosis with the natural world. Watson believes that the tech industry is more limited in scope than people realise, based solely on a concept of high-tech that developed after the industrial revolution.
She calls for this industry to adopt some of the principles of indigenous design, many of which are thousands of years old, to help cities around the world to not only mitigate the impact of climate change but to be resilient for the future.
Julia Watson (Author, Art Direction) with W—E studio with TASCHEN, Berke Yazicioglu (Illustration), Typeface Favorit by DINAMO, Awards: TDC66 Certificate of Typographic Excellence, AIGA 50 Books | 50 Covers 2019, ADC 99th Annual Awards