Education
Rural Learning Network
Rural Learning Network provides cost-effective design alternatives to the existing PWD prototypes of the educational buildings in the rural areas of Satara district, Maharashtra. Given the limited availability of resources, the proposed education buildings are designed as long-term assets to perform multiple functions.
Rural education in India is impacted by systemic issues such as a lesser teacher-to-student ratio, and a lack of proper ICT facilities and tools that enable remote learning among others leaving rural education behind its urban counterpart.
Such issues are addressed by designing these educational buildings as rural commons – as places for public gathering, learning, & information exchange for children and adults alike. By making them self-sufficient in terms of energy, connecting them to the internet, and providing access to ICT tools, these buildings can function as small-scale learning hubs connected across rural and urban regions.
The design provides ‘types’ instead of prototypes that could be adapted to different needs and sites. It is done through a simple, modular structural grid for all the educational buildings making them easily repeatable and adaptable to various site conditions. The walls are built as infills and components such as doors, windows, and louvres are integrated within these modules. The plinths and the sloping roofs are extended to create threshold spaces. They encourage gathering for social and civic functions making these buildings open and usable 24 hours for the entire village.
Prototype: Primary School Building
The primary school is grouped around a central open space. The plinth extends to form an amphitheatre which also functions as the children’s play area and a village gathering space. The individual classrooms are combined and the verandah spaces between them join to become outdoor classrooms. Such flexible spaces ensure that classes can be combined where sometimes the strength of students is larger. Furthermore, these outdoor classrooms can be used for small workshops and other adult training sessions even when the individual classrooms are closed.
Prototype: Classroom module
The classroom module offers a variety of ways it could be repeated and combined depending on the local needs and available site area. The modules can be mirrored to create an outdoor classroom by combining the verandas. They can be placed adjacent to each other to create a continuous and spacious corridor. They can also be clustered randomly around a central open space or a tree.
A simple straightforward grid defines the classroom and the adjoining corridor which also functions as a veranda. The shape of the roof ensures abundant diffused light into the classrooms and shade on the veranda.
Prototype: Anganwadi
Anganwadi is a childcare knowledge centre. With open doors and a familiar roof form, it is designed as a gathering space for young mothers, and mothers-to-be, apart from being a pre-school for young infants. The building is organized into two distinct zones – the classroom and the services zone. The indoor classroom extends on either side – on one side to form a platform, and on the other side into a small enclosed play area for small kids to play under the oversight of the caretaker.
Generous platforms around the building act as gathering spots for women and men alike. The Anganwadi, therefore, functions as a small rural hotspot. Rainwater storage and facilities such as publicly accessible WiFi and plug points powered by electricity from solar panels are also factored into the budget of these cost-effective buildings. Such facilities, make these prototypes into resilient rural infrastructure that is open to different people and a variety of uses.
Project Details
Site
Satara District, Maharashtra
Design
2022
Program
Prototypes for rural educational buildings
Size
Primary school building – 500 sq.m.
Classroom module – 55 sq.m.
Anganwadi – 77 sq.m.
Budget
Primary school building – 82,50,000 INR
Classroom module – 10,50,000 INR
Anganwadi – 14,00,000 INR
Project type
Competition | (initiated by Govt. of Maharashtra, Zilla Parishad, Satara and organized by IIA Satara centre)
Team
Kapilan Chandranesan, Krishnakumar Mahalingam, Monisha Jayakumar, Yamini Thaila Sridharan, Aravinthan Sivakumar
Awards
Rural educational buildings prototypes – 1st place