Commonstudio Receives $1000 Grant from The Pollination Project for Strategic in-Stream Systems (Strains).

Bangalore, India. The Pollination Project, a nonprofit foundation that gives $1000 a day, every day, to individual change-makers and activists worldwide, awarded a grant to Commonstudio founders Daniel Phillips and Kim Karlsrud, creator/founder of Strategic In-Stream Systems (“Strains”) Project.

The project proposes small-scale, low-tech, in-stream decontamination strategies to be deployed and monitored throughout three distinct urban watersheds in India over the course of 4 years.  Our interdisciplinary team is already engaged in ongoing schematic design, lab-based material testing, and relationship building with local partners.  The STRAIN System is a modular system comprised of three basic stages aimed at 1) diverting and collecting solid waste  2) slowing and and settling sediment and suspended solids, and 3) lowering BOD, and trace metals levels through bio filtration using locally available aggregate materials.  Our initial findings demonstrate that these systems can be deployed and scaled at a low cost with an immediate positive impact on localized water quality.

We would like to thank the founders and committee members of the Pollination Project, for believing in our work and the impact on the urban watershed in Bangalore. This grant will help acquire much needed materials for our pilot project, due to begin construction in early 2018.

The Pollination Project gives seed grants to projects that benefit people, the planet, and animals in areas like environmental sustainability, social justice, community health and wellness, arts, and education. To view a full list of recipients to date please see: https://thepollinationproject.org/

Proceedings from the 2017 ATREE Work Seminar

Commonstudio founders Daniel and Kim were honored to participate in ATREE's "Annual Work Seminar."  We had a chance to present the current stage of our ongoing collaborative work with Dr. Priyanka Jamwal.  As was the case throughout the last year of applied research It was refreshing and exciting to be surrounded by such great scientific thinkers who help us push beyond our blind spots as designers.

Commonstudio Receives Microgrant from the Awesome Foundation funding ongoing work in Bangalore.

We are honored to have been awarded a microgrant from the Awesome Foundation (link to our project on their website, click HERE.

The $1000 Awesome Without Borders microgrant will contribute to the implimentation of a small scale intervention for the STRAINS system (currently in development with our Indian partner organizations). The intervention comprises of a designed structure which contains roughly 15 cubic meters of terracotta fragments. Terracotta is abundantly available and our preliminary research shows that it promotes the growth of biofilm, settles sediments, and reduces harmful pathogen content from black and greywater. The intervention will employ these fragments as a passive filtration material and substrate for the growth of spontaneous wetland plants over time. Working together, these systems will help lower the concentrations of harmful contaminants flowing through the watershed.

The Nallah we have chosen for the intervention is upstream of Sowl Lake in Bangalore’s southeastern periphery. Sowl is a perfect context as it is currently in the process of being revitalized and contains a series of preliminary filtration mechanisms. Our Strains unit will work in tandem with these other efforts already underway.

Funding will help purchase raw materials necessary to implement a small scale “proof of concept." Luckily, $1000 stretches much farther in the Indian context and will allow us to procure roughly 6 times more materials than if we were working in the US or EU.  Demonstrating success at Sowl will help us garner more funding and support to scale this idea strategically throughout Bangalore and beyond.  The goal is not commercial viability but open-source empowerment.

Join COMMONstudio Founders Daniel and Kim for an invited Lecture at Sonoma State University on November 9th, 2017.