Introduction
This project forms a part of a larger initiative to provide meaningful education to children of families displaced from the Kuno national park. Samrakshan and Adharshila Shiksha Samiti were set up by Dr. Asmita Kabra to deal with the social aspects of a wildlife conservation project. The project that resulted in the displacement of villages and consequent migration of villagers into Agara led to the dearth of basic facilities.
The Adharshila school was set up as a part of this response and some classroom structures were built over the years. In 2016 Adharshila wanted to apply for board accredition which required it to have 4 more classrooms capable of occupying 50 students each. The organisation approached Delhi based architecture firm Forum Architecture led by architects Suparna Ghosh and Jensil John. The funding received by the school was negligible to build but Forum and Adharshila decided to approach the problem differently. We designed the building in a low cost and socially sustainable way and went back to funders with a comprehensive building report. Funding was subsequently increased and the building was able to start construction.
The key points addressed through the building were to use local materials like river bed stone and build using the prevalent building systems of the area, use passive cooling technology to deal with 50 degree centigrade summers, generate employment for locals, integrate local crafts (local potters employed for providing clay pots for the filler slab) and create a building that gave its users a sense of ownership and belonging. Addressing climatic factors like hot arid summers, dust storms and water shortages led the architects to rely on specific responses like building orientation, cavity walls, rain water harvesting, solar energy and filler slab technology.
Impact
The school is now certified as a Higher Secondary School which means children of the Adivasi (tribal) community that study here can appear for the state board exams that allows them national accredtion as well as an opportunity to higher studies as well as opportunities. At a larger social level this is a huge achievement for a village that has only recently been connected by a road to the city and has suffered tremendously in the past few decades due to displacement, migrations and enroachements.
At the building level the building works as an example of how local materials and technologies can be used to generate good architecture reinstating a dying faith in vernacular knowhows and skillsets. The building has used local river bed stone, cut and dressed at the site generating employment. The masonry followed the existing techniques of stone building enhanced into a double layered wall for reducing heat transfer from the outside to the inside of classrooms. Locally made pots were incoroporated into the construction technology of the classrooms of this low cost rural school building. The pots were made in the workshop of a potter from a neighbouring village. Being a small scale family operation the 600 odd pots that were used in the filler slabs gave employment to the family for many months. The pots are laid in the slab in a designed pattern that provide an interior ceiling aesthetic without any additional cost make the interiors a result of the construction technology employed. Other than the environmental sustainability factor we also felt that this project worked towards social sustainability where local manpower and resources are used to generate employment as well a feeling of ownership of public buildings. The fact that even small scale craftsmen can contribute towards design and construction of a school was something a lot of people in the village had never experienced or anticipated.
Core team
The project is a close collaboration between a core team at the Adharshila Shiksha Samiti that runs the school as well as works closely with the community and children of Agraa village and a Delhi based architecture firm called Forum Architecture. The former have been involved in educational and skill development programs in the core as well as surrounding villages since over the past 20 years. Led by Dr Asmita Kabra who founded it and geared by educator and local liaison for the project Mr. Merajuddin Syed the community is actively engaged through these anchors. Merajuddin has devoted his life to the education of this group of villages and works towards creating a much needed bridge between basic education and eventual employability of the children of this neglected community. Merajuddin also doubled up as the site manager, project manager and a key player in the construction of the building as per the drawings and details of the architect. Technical support and design support was provided by architects Suparna Ghosh and Jensil John, both architects with a focus on sustainable and eco-friendly design. Their design was a result of a study of the village and its material as well as aesthetic language. A visit by the architectural team to the site in the peak of summer also led them to address the harsh climate as a core issue.
Core Team –
Suparna Ghosh – Lead Architect – Partner, Forum Architecture. M.Sc. Architecture (Politecnico di Milano, Italy), B.Arch. (Sushant School of Art and Architecture, India)
Jensil John – Lead Architect- Partner, Forum Architecture, M.Sc. Architecture (Politecnico di Milano, Italy), B.Arch. (TVB School of Habitat Studies, India)
Mr. Devashish Mohan – Project Architect, Forum Architecture, B. Arch (Integral Univisity, India)
Dr. Asmita Kabra – Professor and former Dean, School of Human Ecology, Ambedkar University Delhi and President, Adharshila Education Society
Mr. Merajuddin Syed – Team Leader, Adharshila Education Initiative and Secretary, Adharshila Education Society
Image gallery
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Technical drawings
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