The design of the system rather than the supply of the product was foregrounded in the Lo—TEK Hyperlocal Living Lab. Given China already supported the brand with a constellation of factories, we advised to build a climate resilient supply chain, siting factories in symbiosis with ancestral systems like the Sangjiyutang Silkworm & Fish Farming system in Huzhou,China, located in the midst of Cheh-Kiang’s central silk district, would reduce risk and support local resilience. From this the Huzhou Hyperlocalism hub was born in a city vulnerable to flooding, where the chief industries are silk reeling and the weaving of fine silk fabrics. The term hyperlocalism we defined as occupying a resource shed which spanned the distance of a 5 day walk. This radius offered a resource shed where the impact to the environment could be felt across the scale, while still offering a diversity of materials and associated ecosystems. 

 

By diagramming the existing model of the silk production value chain and then redesigning that with the imagined NIKE biomaterial production system, we can begin to understand how diversified this system actually is— offering services such as food, textile, waste cycling and the planetary benefits the system has to offer including clean water, cleaner air, carbon sequestration, erosion reduction, flood mitigation, and the list goes on. Following an Industrial Symbiosis model we identified how the city could be preemptively planned to support future industry expansion by supporting the existing ancestral nature-based technology, while also supporting agriculture, bioenergy, and other allied sectors, all while continuing to protect the inhabitants of the city from the risk of flooding.