makoko floating school

makoko floating school by NLE architects. makoko, lagos, nigeria.

unpredictable climate changes along the world's most vulnerable coastal communities have produced some fascinating design solutions that test the resiliency of architectural possibilities & the need for adaptation. the coastal community of makoko, a slum neighborhood, off the lagos lagoon in lagos, nigeria, is receiving an upgrade to its current solution, which is building homes supported on stilts within the lagoon's waters. NLE architects, with sponsoring from united nations development programme (undo) & heinrich boell foundation from germany, designed the makoko floating school, phase one of a three-phase development that will become a floating community of interlocked & floating residences. 

the makoko floating school makes use of local materials & resources - wood is used as the main material for the structure, support & finishing. the overall composition is a triangular a-frame section with classrooms located on the second tier. the classrooms are surrounded by public green space, there is a playground below & the roof contains an additional open  air classroom. NLE has also employed strategies to make the floating architecture sustainable by applying PV cells to the roof & incorporating a rainwater catchment system. the structure is also naturally ventilated & aerated.

the completed structure rests on a base of typical plastic barrels. this simple solution reflects a reuse of available materials. the barrels at the periphery can be used to store excess rainwater from the catchment system.

the second phase of the project will include the construction of individual homes that follow the same aesthetic as the school. these elements will be able to connect to each other or may float independently. phase three will allow for the development of a large community of floating architecture. the architecture, as it exists today, is supported on stilts. 

largely a self-sustaining, self-governing fishing community, this past summer the lagos government destroyed & evicted residents to seize property for redevelopment along the waterfront. what the future of makoko will be is unclear - by political or environmental standards. but NLE's design & development of a sustainable floating community & its UN support indicates that the community is looking forward to adapting a resilience to its architecture.

educational building in mozambique

educational building in mozambique. sponsered by bergen school of architecture, norway. project team professers: andré fontes, sixten rahlff & bror r. hansen. project team students: gøran johansen, stine bjar, silje klepsvik, laris sarajlija, olafia zoëga, birgitte haug, tord knapstad, kristian endresen, anette m. basso, mathias wijnen, dan paul stavaru, naeem searle, siri nicholaisen, maria flores adamsen, monica xiao, irmelin rose fisch wågen, tale marie haaheim, ina bakka sem-olsen, eirik solheim aakhus. chimundo, mozambique.
the team arrive at sister catarina's daycare centre for disadvantaged children in the small rural village of chimundo in mozambique with no initial intention to build anything. with the help of the non-governmental organization aid global, catarina also runs a trainee centre for teaching adults, which helps her cover expenses on the daycare centre. however, the lease was running out, and threatened the existence of the daycare centre.
in 12 days they build a school-building at catarina's plot for multi-purpose use as trainee centre in the afternoon and as an extended space for the children during daytime. a framework of reinforced concrete makes a permanent bearing structure in the closed room the framing allows for cheaper more temporary materials as in-fillings. they experimented with sandbags in the east & north facade, where they function as thermal mass in the winter, while an extension of the roof prevents sun exposure during the summer. the shaded south facade has a glass-bottle wall for letting in light and keeping dust out. bottles give an aesthetic quality, & make a good alternative to expensive windows.
the roof collects rainwater into a cistern & is made with corrugated iron sheets that sit on low-cost, self made trusses. the trusses give a natural ventilation gap for cooling, & an inner-roof of cheap locally bought straw-mats filter hot air out.
light straw-doors in the open room give a flexible use of space. the room can open up completely towards the inner school-courtyard to the south, and a small mango tree to the north. the two rooms are divided internally with a large sliding door so that they can be used both separately and as one.
the whole project was done for $8,500!
i love reading about these kinds of projects - we have to remember it takes so little to make big changes.
i'm a huge supporter of kiva. org and have done 16 loans of $25 to various people around the globe. i usually do it when i'm feeling crappy about myself and i feel just a little better knowing that i have done something small and good in the world.

sra pou vocational school

sra pou vocational school by architects rudanko + kankkunen. sra pou, cambodia.
sra pou vocational school is a vocational training center and community building in sra pou village, cambodia designed by architects rudanko + kankkunen from finland. the purpose of the vocational training center is to encourage & teach poor families to earn their own living. the sra pou community is one of the unprivileged communities in cambodia who have been evicted from their homes in the city to the surrounding countryside. they lack basic infrastructure & secure income. the new vocational school provides professional training & helps the people to start sustainable businesses together. it is also a place for public gathering & democratic decision making for the whole community. a local NGO organizes the teaching.
the school building is made out of local materials with local workforce. the aim was to teach people how to make the most out of the materials that are easily available so that they can apply the same construction techniques for their own houses in the future. as the materials are scarce, the red soil was utilized to make sundried soil blocks. the whole school is hand-made: no machines or prefabricated parts were used in the building work. this allowed employing many people from the community & it kept all techniques simple & transferable.

fagerborg kindergarten

fagerborg kindergarten by reiulf ramstad architects. oslo, norway.

edcouch-elsa isd fine arts center

edcouch-elsa isd fine arts center by kell muñoz architects. edcouch, texas, usa.