Julia Watson's Lo-TEK Water: Ancient Wisdom for Climate Resilience

Designer and author Julia Watson argues that ancient building technologies should inform modern water management amid climate change. In an interview with Dezeen, the Australian-born landscape architect discusses her concept Lo-TEK (traditional ecological knowledge), which blends indigenous practices with contemporary design. Her second book, 'Lo–TEK: Water: A Field Guide for TEKnology,' released in 2026, documents global water-adaptive technologies from Philippine fish weirs to Persian ice houses. Watson co-founded the Lo–TEK Office for Intercultural Urbanism in New York to help cities implement indigenous models. She cites China's sponge city concept by Kongjian Yu as an example of Lo-TEK adoption. Watson stresses the need to integrate high-tech and traditional approaches, noting that 165 new cities the size of London will emerge in 15 years. She has worked with firms like Buro Happold and Gensler.