International Participants: Eva Grange, Giulia Borea, Musawer Din, Rodrigo Alvestegui, Hannah Robinson, Jiang-Yin Isabel Liu, Jude Dajani, Katarzyna Antoszyk, Zoe Hyatt, Sammie Pitter, Desislava Asenova, Lara Costin, Holly Partlett, Jermaine Chok, Nikoletta Wiecek, Taegyu Yangagnes qian, DaeWon Choi, Laurisa Zuba, Lumie Okado, Luxmi Nanthakumar, Petra Tina Vasilache, Hiu Ki Lam, Andrea Carolina Batarse, Jerrica Liu, Quita Schabracq, Kushi Lai, Arshana Rajaratnam, Ela-Maria Vultur, Sanziana Bulai and Tina Chaova.
Sustainable Development Targets Met:
Early childhood learning in Southern Africa is often lacking, with many existing schools not having capacity to bring children into education until the age of 6 or 7, missing out on vital learning from the age of 3 or 4.
This workshop looked to produce design solutions for a kindergarten in Shiyala School, Zambia in partnership with NGO Mothers of Africa.
The challenges
For children in the early years, the coverage of care, learning and education services remains persistently low. It is estimated that less than 0.5 percent of the Zambian population has completed primary education. With no early age education at Shiyala Primary School, the local children are already starting off their journey into education on the back foot.
The school requires a dedicated kindergarten that will allow the students access to education from a younger age, increasing chances of success later in life. The design brief calls for a safe and productive learning environment that includes two classrooms, teachers office, store room, library, WC’s and a large sheltered outdoor space.
Participants were encouraged to research the use of local materials in Zambia, and incorporate into their design, the use of local knowledge and skills in the construction stage, as well as the use of vernacular architecture to build sustainable resilient systems.
Over the course of the workshop, participants researched and explored different methods of approaching this difficult issue. With consistent discussions and feedback from end-users and experienced professionals, the participants produced a design proposal for a the kindergarten, a system, or a guideline for design that is both ambitious and feasible.
The work produced culminated in a virtual exhibition (accessed below). The next phase of the research will be analysing the body of work and progressing key themes forward into a workable design which will be built a the Shiyala School Site.
Each participant’s research and proposals have been collated and curated into the gallery below.
The 6 weeks followed key themes:
Other ways of practicing architecture (alternatives to the traditional architecture route, unique practitioners, etc.)
Community engagement and communication techniques (how to go from 'token participation' to 'full ownership', + how best to engage with non architects)
Design considerations and the humanitarian architecture sector (challenges and tools for working in international development)
Stakeholder viewpoints (feedback and Q+A sessions from community members in the South Pacific, NGOs and engineers)
Production and presentation (final refinements before online exhibition + taking the projects forward)
Virtual Exhibition