Three hundred years ago, intellectuals of the European Enlightenment constructed a
mythology of technology
. Influenced by a confluence of humanism, colonialism, and racism, this mythology
ignored local wisdom and indigenous innovation
, deeming it primitive. Today, we have slowly come to realize that
the legacy of this mythology is haunting us
.
Designers understand the
urgency of reducing humanity’s negative environmental impact
, yet perpetuate the same mythology of technology that relies on exploiting nature. Responding to climate change by building hard infrastructures and favoring high-tech homogenous design, we are
ignoring millennia-old knowledge of how to live in symbiosis with nature
. Without implementing soft systems that use biodiversity as a building block, designs remain inherently unsustainable.
Lo—TEK, derived from Traditional Ecological Knowledge, is a cumulative body of multigenerational knowledge, practices, and beliefs
, countering the idea that indigenous innovation is primitive and exists isolated from technology. It is sophisticated and designed to sustainably work with complex ecosystems.
With a foreword by anthropologist
Wade Davis
and four chapters spanning Mountains, Forests, Deserts, and Wetlands, Julia Watson explores
thousands of years of human wisdom and ingenuity from 18 countries including Peru, the Philippines, Tanzania, Kenya, Iran, Iraq, India, and Indonesia
. We rediscover an ancient mythology in a contemporary context, radicalizing the spirit of human nature.
The
tactile reading experience
of Lo—TEK reflects the ingenuity of carefully selected projects with
sophisticated design details
:
copper
highlights the value of ancient knowledge, a
cardboard hardcover
echoes rawness, and the
Swiss binding showcases an open spine
and reveals the construction of the book, just as the book discloses hidden technological knowledge.