"I get inspiration (or opportunities) for people and places rather than looking for people and places to host my ideas." - Julia King
Whether or not Shigeru Ban deserved to be awarded the highest honor of the profession this year (there are vehement opinions on both sides of the question), there is one thing that is certain: the architecture through some serious growing pains. And maybe not encapsulates the direction of travel of the best architecture that Julia King, Emerging Woman Architect AJ year.
pursuing a doctorate in practice via the architecture for rapid change and limited resources (ARCSR) in the slums of India, Mrs. King realized very quickly that the last thing that these communities needed was the architecture - or rather, which is traditionally considered the "architecture". After all, the community members were already experts in the construction of houses and buildings all on their own. Instead, she put her architectural know-how to design and implement what was really necessary: the sewer systems. And therefore - quite by accident, she assured me -. The title "Potty-Girl" was born
In the following interview, conducted by e-mail, I chatted with Mrs. King about her fascinating work, the new paradigm that he is for architecture, the need to give up dividing the serious limitations "urban and rural" (she prefers "connected and disconnected") of the architectural education and the future of architecture it -even. Read more after the break
"Speaking from personal experience :. None of my formal training or professional experience has given me the skills to work in such areas disputed walk. a slum is a humbling experience. They are very complex and rapidly changing environments. " - Julia King
AD: Could you describe the work you do for those who may not be as familiar? What projects have you initiated / worked, and what inspired you to work on them?
JK: In 2010, I was a full scholarship to pursue a PhD by practice within the service architecture for the rapid change and Scarce Resources (ARCSR) at London metropolitan University . A fantastic program led by Maurice Mitchell and doctoral department headed by Peter Carl. Do a PhD by practice meant that my search was integrated in live projects I especially insiders. The research was facilitated by an existing relationship between ARCSR and an Indian NGO, Centre for Urban and Regional Excellence (CURE). It was then that I started to do projects in a slum resettlement colony on the edge of Delhi called Savda Ghevra.
To this day, I realized housing and sanitation projects and run workshops ferro - all projects that I initiated and CURE acting as executing agency. The largest project - a decentralized sanitation system - provides the infrastructure for 322 households (2,000 people) to have toilets in a community before this basically defecating in the open.
I am now integrated architecture and my research practice within the same NGO, which opened many more projects. Currently I work on recasting (and re plumbing) several complex community toilet in Delhi, an upgrade plan for slum in East Delhi two rooms (which includes drains, toilets, landscaping, waste solid, and housing) and a project on Taj East Drain in Agra. Other initiatives are updated in housing - I plan to launch a Kickstarter campaign for a "Minimal House" project soon so watch this space - and I continue working in Savda Ghevra, most of connection time houses in wastewater infrastructure.
I can not express how my relationship with CURE. With the recent publicity surrounding the architect Emerging Woman of the Year, I felt rather uncomfortable, because I'm too aware that as a foreigner I get almost points just to be here (in a slum in India) where the actual work (daily routine) was done by the people who work at CURE. My hope, because no (wo) is an island, is that my success is the success of each.
My inspiration: When I arrived at Savda Ghevra in 2010 I was young (still am) but terribly naïve. I remember thinking that I will come and build houses but I soon realized that if you want to build houses that you build first sewers. So my inspiration never more so coming from me - he came on
I could have finished the construction of a library or a bus stop, but what was the was more necessary sanitation - to do what the community couldn 't be so they could get what they do very well, which makes the city-by-homes. So in that sense, I decided to become a "pot-girl" - what happened by accident. And now I think I fell into one of the biggest problems facing India today. Now sanitation for me is not only crap, but these are the questions and something a woman I became really passionate. So I think my inspiration comes from exposure to people and their hopes / aspirations.
I'm looking for inspiration (or opportunities) for people and places rather than looking for people and places to host my ideas.
AD: You did your mission to work on projects that provide services to underserved communities. What are the challenges involved in such projects - are more financial in nature? Bureaucratic? Convenient? All the above
JK: I am always interested in things messy, these bits of the city that we n ' t understand. Which in the context of India took me to slum areas and marginalized settlements.
And yes, working in poor institutions is often disconnected difficult and all kinds of challenges are involved. To reduce and simplify, from my experience, there are three main challenges:
1. Silver. Project funding - always a huge challenge - donors like school funding, not so much the sewers.
2. Will. Community participation -. which is important not only to do what is right, but also for there to be the property to ensure the legacy
3. Authorization. Often, the state, which is to navigate complex bureaucratic obstacles which India is famous for
AD .: When working on these projects - which is your customer? What is the customer-architect relationship like?
The customer is always the beneficiary of what you do in that they do not pay for the service, which requires a certain type of morality. They sometimes pay (like toilet updates, we are currently working) challenging the myth that slum dwellers are passive recipients of aid.
However, most of the time the "real" customer is the donor who pays for the project and sometimes the state. As an NGO, CURE is inherently a grassroots organization aimed at empowering beneficiaries of the projects to be part of the process - as such, success is based on these relationships that take time to help. I am very benefit and piggyback their work, there is a planned community mobilization base, so that I can be informed by the NGO but also residents, wherever we work.
AD: In which regions of the world are you interested in working and why
[[?
My main research interest is to try to understand more concrete description / interpretation of this "city" and "urban order" is. And because, perhaps, problems in India are so fundamental and visceral, it is no surprise, I ended up working here. And so I am right now, exactly where I want to work
In principle, I am very much a "yes" person -. If someone were to say 'I project (worldwide) you are interested in' my answer is always yes. There is nowhere in this world, I am not interested in working. However, a significant work requires a commitment to place and good relationships with local partners and it takes time to promote. I think only now after three years of work in Delhi, and having lived here as a teenager, I'm finally at ease: I understand my limits, where I can best contribute, where I have the right set up to be able to work, think and act. And this is mostly because of my successful relationship with CURE. So looking forward, I would like to work in other countries - I've always been very curious about the Middle East - but for that I would have to find organizations from which a relationship can grow organically.
AD: In the next century the world's population will be mostly urban - and about a third of the population live in slums. Considering the size of this population is - and how many need to design quality - why do you think so few architects working in these urban environments?
My last thought on this is that the rural - urban divide is a misnomer (much like we have stopped talking about formal and informal) . What we see particularly in India and China is peri-urban mass characterized by an unexpected change from agriculture to mixed use urban land, dispersed urban development, misuse of natural resources degradation the environment and inadequate infrastructure services.
Moreover, the distinction between urban and rural accidents the crucial point: the distinction between the colonies with access to infrastructure and the benefits of education, health, employment and housing (than is necessary to fulfill its ability) and those without. I'm trying to find a better expression, but we need to start talking of "connected" and "disconnected" populations.
As such, with most of the world "offline" (rural and urban), there is a serious need for good design quality. I say this often - that peri-urbanization in India is also its greatest challenge, but also its greatest opportunity. If done well, this can cause a positive development lift millions out of poverty, and if done incorrectly disconnected these areas will be a source of conflict (an Egyptian case in point).
Slums (or barrios) in Latin America are emblematic spaces of conflict and not production spaces. The major problem, no matter how you see it, is that these are the two problems of a culture of bad planning. Because when you have a city like Delhi which adds millions over several decades and continue to do, planning is always reactive, resulting in an incredible disconnect between what is imagined and real fitness.
Why so few architects working in this field? I think there is a step with how architecture is taught, practiced, and the reality of cities and more generally the built environment. The emphasis on architecture as an art form is still endemic; but that is changing, but slowly. And so I think the profession in general realized that we are not important - it is difficult to actually verify this, but it sounds right to me -. Overall architects are involved with only 2% of the built environment
and if we look in particular India, most growth happens at level 2 and 3 cities - the most Indians do not even know their names. These cities have no central planning, no infrastructure and certainly not the architects involved. This is a time bomb "urban" in India. Put simply, architects need to re-enter (or put down, the better participate in) the speeches on the thought of the city and the construction of the city.
AD: Why do you feel so architects in developing countries are not interested in the public interest design challenges in their own countries?
More precisely why so few architects working in the slums is that, as an architect, you might not feel very useful. Speaking from personal experience: none of my formal training or professional experience has given me the skills to work in these disputed areas. Walking through a slum is a humbling experience. They are very complex and rapidly changing environments.
The inclusive city construction project is universal. Most of today's cities are becoming essentially gated communities where the poor are displaced outside - if the speech, I often find myself talking about there: the marginalization and displacement of millions - is also relevant in Delhi as it is in London.
AD: Do you feel that the architectural education you received you prepared to take the kind of work you are interested to continue?
What I learned always to the school of architecture that is useful is 1. how to work hard (to still be able to put in long hours) and 2. how to communicate ideas. That's where we differ sociologists, anthropologists, social workers and economists who dominate the field of development; we can visually communicate ideas - and when we speak of participation that is the key.
AD: In an interview with Architects Journal you said "he is a very myopic view of the architecture if you just see it through the lens of buildings ... it's about the process." what do you mean by that? How architects can use "process" to affect real change in our cities?
What I mean by this process is that if we look at the production of "place" - be it a house or a wall detached - I believe that architecture is the institutional order and the location rather than the process that results in a building - namely the accumulation. And when you talk about the process - and specifically say the strengthening of institutions - which is when we can start designing inclusive environments where people can fill their capacity.
AD: Do you feel that the design of public interest is more "legitimate" in the eyes of architects? Feel cultural change happens in architecture?
There certainly is. I remember when I started architecture school, I felt I had to make a choice between - call it 'development architecture' / do good - and success in the eyes of my peers, but also traditional media. This is more the case and the fact that I won the Emerging Architect Women in 2014 is testimony to this. And we therefore see a cultural change happens in architecture. I think the current question is how architects can significantly intervene and how to avoid the pitfalls of patronage.
AD: I was struck that one of the jury members who chose you as the architect Emerging Woman of 2014 was Marta Thorne, director Executive of the Pritzker prize, who praised your work to "expand" what we consider architecture to be .... what do you think your gain in the average price for architecture? What does it say about how we recognize and define the architecture and architects of today?
I think how Marta Thorne said was brilliant and I felt really proud. She went on to say that it is about "supporting the promise, the promise of social action" and I think that's the best compliment to my work, I have never heard of.
Practices like Urban Think Tank, URBZ and architects Anna Heringer and as Teddy Cruz (and I know I'm much more absent) are all covers donning major magazines and certainly the way. Awards such as the Holcim Awards also help lead this very necessary cultural shift away from this obsession of architecture as an art form - which is fine - but we need to broaden our understanding of the architecture and the kind of cities we want to live in.
The interview was conducted and published by Vanessa Quirk. Learn more about the work of Julia King at his website: http://www.julia-king.com/
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