Designer, activist, academic,
and author of Lo—TEK,
Design by Radical Indigenism.
A leading expert of Lo—TEK nature-based technologies for climate-resilience.
Her eponymously named studio brings creative and conceptual, interdisciplinary thinking to urban projects and corporate clients interested in systemic and sustainable change. Julia regularly teaches urban design at Harvard and Columbia University.
The Parkland at Roma Street in Brisbane, Australia
Date: 1999 - 2002
Location: Brisbane CBD, AUS
Project Team: Julia Watson for PARC (DEM Architects, Gillespies Australia, Landplan Studio, Civitas) + SKM + Brecknock Consulting + Webb Australia
Client: Queensland Department of Public Works
Julia worked for PARC, from the formation of the collaborative, overseeing office management, and was involved as a junior designer in all phases of the project from concept design to construction administration.
The Parkland is a horticultural masterpiece and the world's largest sub-tropcial garden in a city center. It is located on a sixteen-hectare brownfield site, which was converted into an urban oasis of recreational space for the north of the CBD and provided the impetus for the recently developed surrounding commercial and residential precincts. Until the parkland was established, these wastelands divided the city and prevented the development of nearby land. A decade after completion, this parkland is still making a significant contribution to the urban character, connectivity, and recreational life in Brisbane.
The project won the RAIA (QLD) Excellence in Urban Design 2006, AILA (QLD) Merit award Open Space 2002, CCAA Street Smart Award, 200, UDIA (QLD) Urban Renewal 2001, PQ Engineering Excellence (High Commendation) Buildings & Structures, 2001.
