“An emergent term, combining ‘lo-tech’ and ‘TEK’ (traditional ecological knowledge), Lo-TEK rethreads the fabric of innovation, rewrites the mythology of technology, and reconceives the primitive as innovative.”
-Julia Watson, Lo—TEK Design by Radical Indigenism.
Recent Low-Tech/Lo-TEK Blog Posts
Low-tech
Low-tech is not a new concept. Indigenous communities have been innovating useful, accessible and sustainable technologies for tens of thousands of years. In our bid to live more sustainably, we are committed to exploring less consumptive ways to experience our time as humans on our beautiful planet. During the beginning of our learn-to-sail journey, we became aware of the Low-tech Lab based in Brittany, France, after discovering about the unique explorations of Corentin de Chatelperron, who built the sailboat Tara Tari out of jute fiber, a cultivated plant that grows profusely in Bangladesh, and sailed 14,000 kilometers aboard his low-tech vessel from Bangladesh to France. He has since documented low-techs around the world aboard his laboratory catamaran Nomade des Mers.
The Low-tech Lab has a clear mission: to make you want to live better with less, thanks to the low-tech spirit!
"We use the term ‘low-tech’ to define the techniques, technologies, services and know-hows that stick to three main principles:
Useful. Accessible. Sustainable.
Low-tech Lab site (English)
Low-tech wiki (French)
Database of low tech from around the world
Database of low tech trainings in France (French).
Lo-TEK
Lo-TEK, is a design movement coined by architect Julia Watson building on indigenous philosophy and vernacular infrastructure to generate sustainable, resilient, nature-based technology. In her book, Lo—TEK Design by Radical Indigenism, Julia has catalogued Lo-TEK solutions borne out of necessity that are ‘local, inexpensive, handmade, and easily constructed soft systems, embedded with traditional ecological knowledge, practices and beliefs,’ (Lo-TEK, Julia Watson, 2020). ‘An emergent term, combining ‘lo-tech’ and ‘TEK’ (traditional ecological knowledge), Lo-TEK rethreads the fabric of innovation, rewrites the mythology of technology, and reconceives the primitive as innovative.’
More recently, The Lo—TEK Curriculum, created in collaboration with Melissa Hunter Gurney of The Omni Institute, was written to accompany the book. It addresses the future of our environment, reignites dismissed voices and ensures access to phenomena and land-based education while simultaneously placing decolonized interdisciplinary research at the forefront. It provides high school students the opportunity to gain an understanding of indigenous technologies and practices that expose connectivity to their own histories, local landscapes and current views.