Spotlight
Interiors & Décor explored more about Julia King, a recipient of Holcim Award, whose research and design are helping the unswayed orbits.
Design For A Cause Brief Profile: Julia King is a British/Venezuelan PhD candidate and designer within the Architecture of Rapid Change and Scarce Resources at London Metropolitan University on a full scholarship awarded by the Water Trust Foundation. The research looks at incremental housing in peri-urban slum/resettlement colonies in Delhi. Julia studied architecture at the Architectural Association; following graduation she was profiled in the press as one of the 10 best graduating Architects in the UK for her project in a refugee camp on the Thai-Burma border and her dissertation was nominated for the prestigious RIBA Presidents Medal. Prior to starting her PhD she worked for structural engineers Atelier One on various projects including Gardens by the Bay set in Singapore’s downtown Marina Bay. Recent/current clients include Magis, Tatton Park Biennial, RUMI Foundation and the Clinton-Hunter Foundation.
Comment on winning the award: It is an amazing honour to receive a Holcim Award, not only for the recognition of my work (which I am really passionate about) but also to be part of something that showcases amazing projects around the world. Holcim Awards have been handed out to many practices and individuals whom I greatly admire including Urban Think Tank who do amazing work in my home country, Venezuela, and individuals like Teddy Cruz
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Spotlight who have really re-invented the role of architecture and design as research. I was mostly pleased to win the award because it meant I could share the honour with the people I work with: Indian NGO CURE (Centre for Urban and Regional Excellence), for without them, none of this would have been possible. Holcim awards recognise projects that practice the type of architecture I am interested which isn’t just about building buildings but engaging with the politics (and institutions) of development. Tell us something more about the project? As you are probably aware I won in the student / next generation category which in most cases are not live projects - however in the case of mine, it is a project I am hoping to realize and I have used the prize money to kick start the project. The project is being developed in collaboration with the NGO CURE (above) and began when we had been discussing how we could get households access to private toilets in the context of a site and the services colony like Savda Ghevra where people actually own the space within which they are living. When I applied for the Holcim Award we had started talking to the community about the idea of having a shared septic tank
which could be more cost effective and safer which was being proposed for a single street. Following receiving the funds from Holcim (the prize money) I used that money to engage with an engineer what our options were and devised a scheme that was slightly larger based on a catchment area that the community would be happy with, a size that was replicable in terms of the rest of the development and something that could navigate the complexities of an existing site which is only partially developed to date. Convincing the communities and getting their attention is a challenging job. How did you manage this? The thing that got the communities attention was that we were willing to actually customise solutions to individual needs, space available, quality of existing structures and resources (affordability). Working with local contractors we have also developed a new design for housing which reduces construction costs by 30%, and have refined designs to assist the incremental development of housing. This was something that generated a lot of interest and enthusiasm in the community because it was not something that was being imposed upon them. Home-owners also recognised that this design strategy would not compromise or destroy any existing investments that
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had been made in the home. This played a big role in getting the community on board. The demand for sanitation has always been there (and we know is a major issue in India) but getting the technology right and the financial solutions right helped the community to come together more quickly and eventually now with our repeated interactions the community have become very involved in the project culminating in the creation of street management teams who are responsibility for the project both in terms of procurement and management. The next stage of the project involves the set up a decentralised water kiosk which because of the technology creates a lot of waste water which we will be using to flush toilets and we are also looking at ways in which the sludge from the septic tanks can get composted and sold. How are you managing funds for the project? Currently we are seeking funds for the remainder of the project as the monies awarded do not cover the whole project and we are awaiting government approvals. We hope that this project will serve as a viable pilot - offering an alternative to one-stop conventional systems especially suitable for poor and marginalised communities who mostly have no option other than to
defecate in the open.
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