Shneel Malik's Bio-Tech Materials Are Cleaning Water In Polluted Indian Cities

Nature is nature's best bet against humankind's excesses. By employing the restorative qualities of naturally-occurring substances and jazzing it up with tech, Shneel Malik is changing how we clean up our surroundings as climate change rings alarm bells on all fronts.

A bio-architect, Malik is exemplifying how holistic nature-first architecture could mark the end of our pollution woes. "We constantly use terms such as sustainability, sustainable design, sustainable architecture. But it did not lead us anywhere... It did not even inspire people to start using it."

Indiatimes

Shneel Malik wants architecture to perform "in collaboration with existing natural surroundings." For the the uninitiated, a bio-architect works at the intersection of more than one disciplines. In essence, Malik and many others like her are attempting to find ways through which "artificial surroundings designed by architects can start performing in collaboration with existing natural surroundings."

"Can our worlds do more than just exist," Malik ruminated in a conversation with Indiatimes, on the backdrop of TEDxGateway Climate Countdown 2021 (supported by Govt Of Maharashtra), where she spoke on how technology can help combat climate change.

Meet Indus, a cleaning project of its kind

With her canonical project "Indus," Malik is spearheading the focus on design as well as the product, which would allow the set-up to "perform in tandem with nature."

With help from her peers and guides from Bartlett School of Architecture, Shneel Malik created "Indus" wherein handmade ceramic tiles are placed on the exterior of a building. Design is at the heart of this project - with distinctive hooves that are filled with bio-algae, the mechanism captures heavy metals as the water moves through the surface of tiles. This water, then, may be reused.

Also read: Teen Activist Sagarika Sriram Wants Young Voices To Be Heard, Climate Curriculum In Schools

Bio technology, according to Malik, has mastered the trick of creating stuff using 3D printing. "The only thing they can't do is scale up."

Using natural ingredients to treat nature

"Usually architects look at buildings top-down. As a bio-architect we started looking at the bottom," Malik told Indiatimes. Usually, structures are erected in different places based on the requirements of the people who intend to live there. Malik wants to change that.

Indus By Shneel Malik

"We started looking at materials that are living because they allow the growth of either plants or organisms. In the project Indus, we are looking at microorganism algae which is abundantly available," Malik said.

Also read: India Among 11 'Countries Of Concern' On Climate Change, Says First-Ever US Intelligence Report

The algae, then is cultured into the material without the need for energy. While scientists have used algae to absorb pollutants before, they weren't able to put it into a "material form."

This is where bio-architects come in! Shneel Malik and her peers created a material called "hydrogel", which is based on water, a primary molecule that supports life. Malik essentially gave life to the tiles in order to treat waste.

How Indus works in Kolkata

Malik's journey for Indus was heavily rooted in India, where her team was travelling in 2017. They noticed that most water in one of Hubli's streams in Kolkata was coloured. "We found that it was coming from small-scale bangle-making industries or textile industries," she told us.

"They don't have a water treatment facility or even an RO system. They get water, use it, put it in buckets and throw it. It ends up in streams," she explained.

Indus By Shneel Malik

Not much later, Malik wanted to see how her design could be deployed that disrupts "their daily life" with tech that can allow them to clean and reuse that coloured water.

"Eventually, we suggested a vertical wall system," which came to fruition in "Indus" - a modular system which is made of locally available materials like clay. This, Malik, claimed is helping the bangle-makers of Kolkata. "We give the materials to them, which they mix and apply on tiles." Later, the water is circulated vertically through these tiles, giving them cleaner and reusable water on the ground.

Why world needs more bio-designers

While "Indus" may have helped ease the woes of bangle-makers in Kolkata, it's not the one-off solution climate radicals are looking for. For Malik, the problem begins with how little attention is paid to design when we build cities or even products.

Referring to global climate events like COP26, Malik claimed that designers are barely invited to provide solutions at such forums. "They never ask us how better should we design our technology so that everyone can use them better and how these technologies can become useful within our daily activities including things like hydroponics and growing your own herbs."

Also read: Climate Change May Reduce Winter Migration Of Birds And Their Population

For instance, Elon Musk could someday extract all the carbon in the air. "But that's not a solution," Malik exclaimed. "That might mitigate what we have in the present, but we'll face the same issues again in the future."

Shneel Malik

Malik and her peers are also employing technology outside of "Indus" to come up with creative solutions. "For instance, we are mixing clay with certain substrates so that its firing temperature is reduced," Malik said.

In addition, they're 3D printing membranes that are built only from the living material instead of substrate. "We use 3D printing to regulate the water percentage and the gooeyness of each layer we print and we can get 3D scaffolds that are completely living," she told us.

India's under-empowered "powerhouses"

Climate change's effects on each country will be different. But at the receiving end of its worst consequences will be small-scale industries like bangle-makers and the cottage industry. According to Malik, these constitute the "biggest powerhouses" in the country.

"We should use those communities and allow them to leapfrog into the future. They don't how to operate current technology. If you introduce them to a new technology, they will use it more proactively than most. Then, you will actually set a new example of how small systems should function," Malik said.

Also read: Climate Change Is Spiking Suicide Rates And Infectious Diseases: Study

Instead of relying on the government or other players, Malik believes mass adoption of any tech will happen when it finds acceptance in the untapped market, i.e., people who need it the most.

While giving an example of a Panchayat unit in an Indian village, Shneel Malik urged researchers to go into the community to use them as pilot scale studies. "As a designer I believe in creating things that convert people without them realising that they've been converted into climate conscious citizens," Malik told Indiatimes.

Why current climate-conscious tech isn't working

Current modes of technology are heavily centred around data collection instead of information dissemination. "We don't have the right data on pollution. So far, it's all very doctored," Malik told us. She attached no shame to it, but instead urged respective bodies to focus on finding the right data.

"Even in five years from now, if we collect the right data and deploy it correctly, we'll be in a good direction," Malik claimed.

Also read: This Website Shows How Your City Could Look In A Climate Change Catastrophe

Indus By Shneel Malik

Another issue at the heart of aversion to mass adoption is the cost associated with changing technologies. Malik explained how industries would never switch to a new way if it adds even an extra rupee to their production costs.

What's next, Shneel Malik?

Malik believes the way forward is making people aware by using clever means. "Unless things don't get personal, nothing changes," she said while focusing on the need to show people what's happening on the ground instead of simply telling them.

"Science needs to speak up and do it in a clever way to become personal," Malik believes.

Another thing to take into account while creating climate-conscious solutions is site-specific context. "Indus constructed in Kolkata and Indus constructed in Panipat will look very different, because the algae and the material will be local. Everything will be tailored [to suit the location]," Malik said.

The future is dependent on executing localised projects in different parts of India and the world. "We need to make a global action on a local scale" is her message to all - individuals, corporations, and governments.

Malik believes the power of collaboration could save the world in time before climate change and its effects become even more pronounced and localised. "Collaborative thinking and collaborative spaces are the future of education and research."

What do you think about Shneel Malik's "Indus" project and her thoughts about climate consciousness? Share your thoughts and takeaways in the comments below. For the latest in the world of technology and science, continue reading Indiatimes.com.