Canada’s Indigenous communities are at a disproportionately higher risk of living with deficiencies in their water systems. Federal government-led programs have failed to address the fundamental, historical issues found in these communities, and year after year have left many Indigenous communities without safe or reliable access to clean drinking water. Architects have the research capabilities and representational tools at their disposal to present a clearer picture of the water crisis. By using these tools to properly understand the issues contributing to the crisis, this thesis posits that architecture has the agency to propose informed, site-specific design strategies that truly work towards the goal of providing Indigenous communities with sustainable access to clean drinkingwater.
The project was developed at the University of British Columbia, School of Architecture and Landscape Architecture.
KOOZ What prompted the project?
JH Indigenous communities in Canada disproportionately live with third world water quality issues and lack basic access to safe and reliable water for drinking and other household activities. People on First Nations reserves are 90 times more likely to not have access to running water than other Canadians, pointing to the long-standing and ongoing history of colonialism and systemic racism. Current solutions and programs have failed to address the fundamental, historical issues found in these communities, and year after year have left many Indigenous communities without safe or reliable access to clean drinking water.
I was interested in the role that architecture could play in providing these communities with clean water. What began as a design thesis shifted to a research and representation project when I realized how complex the water crisis truly is. To achieve sustainable results requires a holistic understanding of these communities, combined with site and community-specific interventions. Through this project, I tried to leverage the research capabilities and representational tools at an architect’s disposal to present a clearer picture of the water crisis, with the ultimate goal of proposing more appropriate and effective design strategies.
One of the biggest issues in the ongoing clean water crisis is a failure to properly engage and consult with Indigenous communities.
KOOZ What questions does the project raise and which does it address?
JH This project questions how architects, governments, and societies as a whole tend to resort to quick fixes. There is often a failure of third parties to listen to stakeholders to understand what issues are present in their communities, choosing instead to prescribe solutions from an outsider’s perspective without fully grasping the scope and scale of the issues. I am not Indigenous and, as such, I am an outsider. One of the biggest issues in the ongoing clean water crisis is a failure to properly engage and consult with Indigenous communities. This project lays the foundation for specific community design strategies to be developed with in-depth consultation from a community.
This project also questions the place of mechanical and operational infrastructure in our communities. Complex mechanical systems tend to be tucked away behind chain link fences. New ways of thinking and innovative design can bring these more to the forefront in our communities, increasing education opportunities and enriching our rural and urban environments.
KOOZ What is the value of research as conducted and mediated by the architect?
JH The clean water crisis is an overwhelmingly complex issue with many contributing factors. Research and architectural representation are critical in painting a clearer picture of the crisis to better understand what issues are present in these Indigenous communities. By using research and representational tools to properly understand these issues, this thesis posits that architecture has the agency to propose informed site-specific design strategies that truly work towards the goal of providing Indigenous communities with sustainable, reliable access to clean drinking water. For the sake of this project, I focussed on three issues present in many communities across the country to better understand if and how design could play a role in providing sustainable access to clean water: Distribution and infrastructure challenges in sprawling communities, a lack of certified water treatment operators, and contaminated source water from ineffective wastewater treatment.
KOOZ How does the project approach the role of the architect within our contemporary society?
JH This project positions the architect as a translator, working with Indigenous communities and partnerships to better communicate the water issues plaguing these communities, with the goal of proposing more site-specific and appropriate design strategies that tackle the root issues contributing to the clean water crisis. Architects not only have the ability to re-design and re-imagine operational and mechanical infrastructure, they also possess the tools necessary to act as a liaison between community members and society at large. To that end, this project proposes a framework of Indigenous community consultation, engagement, and governance relying on community input, consent, and decision making. It acknowledges that no one understands the water crisis facing a community more than the community members themselves. Only through a collaborative, respectful process can tangible, sustainable goals be met in ending the clean water crisis in Indigenous communities.
KOOZ What design strategies does the project implement to provide Indigenous communities with access to clean drinking water?
JH From this research emerged three schematic designs strategies. They are merely schematic at this stage given the need for proper consultation with individual Indigenous communities.
In the first strategy, constructed basements housing water cisterns could protect these cisterns both physically and thermally from contamination from the ground outside, thereby maintaining a community’s reliance on trucked water. This is a short-term solution that fails to provide meaningful, long-lasting results, does not benefit the social or economic development of the community, and should truly not be considered an appropriate solution.
In low-density rural communities, kinship-based housing clusters could be built around water and wastewater treatment infrastructure servicing the cluster, with the community sharing the responsibility for monitoring the water quality and maintaining the treatment systems. By de-centralizing the water and wastewater treatment infrastructure, piping distances are reduced, and distribution issues are partially addressed. Mechanical systems can be combined with other program, like a traditional smokehouse or communal kitchen, while greenhouses can be used to treat wastewater much more efficiently and sustainably.
To address the significant operational issues in larger or higher density communities, treatment infrastructure can be embedded within other public program and infrastructure, such as schools. This would help foster a greater understanding of treatment systems and processes and share the operational responsibilities amongst community members. The treatment processes become more of an integrated learning experience, where students fully engage with the lifecycle of water and learn about the maintenance and operational requirements of the treatment systems.
This project proposes a framework of Indigenous community consultation, engagement, and governance relying on community input, consent, and decision making.
KOOZ How do you imagine these affecting inhabitation strategies of these Indigenous communities?
JH The ultimate goal of this project is to empower Indigenous communities to take back control over their drinking water and to have greater input in the strategies used to provide these communities with sustainable and reliable access to clean drinking water. Through further community consultation, the design strategies developed through this project would be rooted in Indigenous traditions and ways of knowing specific to the community. They would encourage kinship-based models of living, where community planning and development is driven by the role of family and kinship-based structures, and a shift towards more sustainable models of living and community planning.
KOOZ What is for you the power of the architectural imaginary?
JH Architects have the ability to consolidate complex information through a variety of representational tools to communicate a message and to tell a story. As humans, we lack the ability to fully grasp or understand things that we perceive to be massive or overwhelming, like climate change or water consumption. The architectural imaginary allows us to better understand the scope and scale of issues and the factors that are at play in these issues. It also allows us to imagine a future where operational and mechanical infrastructure, driven by compelling design, has a larger presence in our rural and urban environments.
