DESIGNING WATER SYSTEMS IN SITU
Sometimes, a game is the best way to explain complex systems.
February 2018, Jessica Helfand, of the Design Observer, invited me to lead a workshop at Yale about water, its scarcity and the technologies which can harness its power in relationship to urban design. Her studio "Design as Utility: Luxury, Sustainability and Waste" asked hard questions about equity and tourism in one of the driest cities in the world: Cape Town.
My goal through this workshop was to present tools and innovative methods for capturing, cleaning and storing water in various geographical areas each with their unique tradeoffs. What resulted was a game of five teams of students paired with thirsty cities and a set of technologies in which to solve these problems. With financial constraints being the devils advocate, and distinct regional resources as their tools - it became an ethical battle and a need for shared resources. Players were allowed to exchange with other teams at a low cost, or to the game master (me) for an advanced technology at high cost. It became a game of strategy, systems and communalism, demonstrating that collaboration of technologies is often more effective than a stand alone high budget solution.
At the end of the game, there were groups who had come up with technology combinations specific to their sites that were truly innovative which featured unique hyper local proposals that I’d never even considered. When we make research playful and remain open to solutions our neighbors might have - novelty abounds.
A workshop designed and delivered for Yale University’s Schools of Architecture & Business with Jessica Helfand, Professor of Yale School of Architecture & the Design Observer.
