Hi everyone...
After a lot of serious ramblings on heavy scholarly articles, I would like to share with you the awesome power of creativity and sensitivity in creating something so sustainable, yet practical, useable and of cost effective. And perhaps a few dashes of pure common sense... Let's take a look at this award-winning architectural invention... Enjoy, peeps...
The Aga Khan Award for Architecture
recognizes distinguished architecture that encourages social
development, restoration, re-use and environmental responsibility in the
Islamic world. One of the winning projects, the METI School of Rudrapur
in Bangladesh, is a great example of these values. The school is an
amazing hand-built project that showcases great sustainable design
practices and locally-sensitive architecture. Elegantly fusing local
knowledge, readily available renewable materials and new construction
techniques, the project maintains a traditional identity while embracing
modernity in both its form and purpose.
Volunteer architects Anna Heringer and Eike Roswag developed the
design concept by considering local cultural, economic and ecological
aspects. The school is based on regional construction and local
materials but implemented with modifications that add efficiency and
structural integrity, important factors in the densely populated, flood
prone region. 
To allow for a second story, the designers improved the bamboo
structural system and lashing. They also opted for a brick foundation
with a damp proof course to overcome the inevitable rising moisture in
the earthen walls. The kiln brick detail enlisted craftspeople from a
district 20 kilometers away. The rest of the construction was a
collaborative effort between the architects, local craftspeople,
students, parents and teachers.
The school building embodies many of the guiding principles behind METI (Modern Education and Training Institute)
teaching, an initiative of the Bangladeshi sustainable development NGO
Dipshikha. Learning with joy, team-based education, and utilization of
nature are all elements of this Montessori-like school.
This hands-on connection was central to the architects’ vision. They
wanted technical improvements to become part of local knowledge for
application in future development. Locally available expertise, skills
and materials are all a part of the school’s sustainability goals as an
environmentally sound, structurally superior catalyst for the local
economy and education system.
At the center of the project are the students themselves, many who
helped form the thick walls that keep their classrooms cool and hung the
shutters that allow natural daylight and ventilation. Under the shaded
garden façade where colorful sari material contrasts the school’s earth
tone walls, the students of the METI School
leave their shoes along an expansive veranda and enter the handmade
structure built to bring out the best in them. It is with intent that
the principles guiding their education take form in the building that
surrounds them. The structure, like the program within, serves as a
wonderful example for a sustainable future.
The METI School in Rudrapur is a recipient of a 2007 Aga Khan Award for Architecture. The project has also been recognized by the 2007 International Bamboo Building Design Competition as a Visionary Design for Ecological Living, received a 2006 AR Award for Emerging Architecture and the 2006-07 Kenneth F. Brown Asia Pacific Culture and Architecture Design Awards
This kinda reminds me of Almarhum Mr Wan B, whose passion for bamboo as a sustainable design element cannot be matched. We are so blessed and so honoured to have him as our mursyid and mentor. May you rest in peace, Mr Wan and may Allah bless you with Jannah. Amin...
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