Asialink

Lucinda Hartley

Lucinda Hartley
    


Director
[co]Design studio
  1. How did you come to be living and working in Asia?
    I initially moved to Vietnam in 2008 to work with the Asian Coalition of Housing Rights on resettlement and upgrading of slums and informal settlements. As an Australian Landscape Architect, this was an opportunity to explore linkages between professional design and community development, and to build linkages between organisations in Australia and Asia. Following from this I worked with Habitat for Humanity Vietnam, an organisation specializing in low income housing, on an urban design study of the slums and informal settlements of Ho Chi Minh City.  I have now returned to Australia, but continue to maintain an involvement with projects in the region through [co]design studio, a community based design organisation. At [co]design, I am currently working on WE BUILD, India -  a project to develop a sustainable living precinct for rural-urban migrants in Bangalore.
     
  2. What are some of your daily work activities?
    I spent most days in Vietnam on the back of a motorbike undertaking field surveys, interviewing community leaders and speaking with local government about the slum mapping study. In the absence of centralised Cadastral and GIS data, most of the map data was collected manually. Now based back in Australia, I spend a lot of my days on Skype to project partners in India as we develop WE BUILD. I will be in India to continue this from August 2010.
       
  3. In your role, what are the highlights of working with different cultures?
    Working with different cultures  reinforces to me that there are no ‘right’ and ‘wrong’ ways of going about problem solving, but differences that we can all learn from. I feel that my perspective has been broadened and that will influence my future life and work.  

  4. How do you manage the cultural differences?
    Acknowledging that there are differences is a good place to start, and then being patient and taking time to talk, reflect and understand each other. I appreciate working in the design professions as I think design is a powerful tool to work across cultures. Working visually can often help to overcome language/cultural barriers.

  5. What do you enjoy most about living in Vietnam?
    I love the buzz of activity in dense urban centers. The sounds, smells and constant activity. When I return to Australia I find myself asking ‘where is everyone?’
     
  6. Looking forward, how can Australia make a stronger contribution towards building positive relations with Asia?
    At present I am focusing on building relations between young professionals in Australia and Asia. Design education is still quite euro-centric, yet young professionals often find themselves working in Asia without any preparation in cross-cultural communication. [co]design studio is a design organisation that offers young professionals from Australia and Asia the opportunity to work together on grass-roots community projects. This is not about Australians working overseas or vice-versa, but about learning to work together as global citizens.

  7. Who are Global Citizens for Sustainable Development and what is the WE BUILD project?
    Global Citizens for Sustainable Development (GCSD) is a Bangalore-based NGO working to increase dialogue between young people across cultures.  In 2010 [co]design studio partnered with GCSD for WE BUILD, a program that will bring young people from Australia and India together to work on hands-on building projects in Bangalore.

    The project specifically aims to develop a sustainable living precinct for rural-urban migrants who face barriers to shelter, sanitation and housing.  [co]design studio are working with GCSD to develop a masterplan and design  drawings for the site. The project works under the premise that migration and the surrounding issues are fuelled by global forces, and there should therefore be a global response. While the WE BUILD project has tangible outcomes such as improving educational opportunities for 100 families, it also aims to bring together young people from Australia and India in a cross-cultural dialogue which will spark future projects and long-term change.