ar2com

On a situation such as the displaced communities, whether it is due to natural or man-made disasters, the loss of identity becomes a big problem: both social (recognition within the community) and individual (what sets an individual appart from the rest) identities are lost and the construction of new relationships is harder to achieve. Moreover, not only the context is foreign to the migrant but the migrant himself is a stranger to the new location.
Within this context, we propose the social practice of building the school with the actual involvement of the community in order to build confidence and new relationships while the facilities are developped and the techniques for its replication learned by the users themselves.
By involving them now, they are empowered to be active agents of change in the future of their people and their own.
Burma is responsible for more refugees and migrants than any other country. A large part of the refugees are children. They deserve the chance to receive a good education. PermaMobileSchool has been designed for Burmanese children living in Kwe Ka Bung, near Mae Sot in Thailand and close to the border of Burma. PermaMobileSchool is more than a conventional educational opportunity, it intends to offer a life-long knowledge integrating schooling and a playful experience in an environmental friendly learning space.

Design by Jula-Kim Sieber, Ana Livi, Silvia Aldana and PermaCultural input by Maximilian Lösch.

PermaMobileSchool Download (20)

a small board (45 x 35 cm) becomes seat, table and school bag in one = passport for education.
All nomad pupils need is a portable bag made basically of a wooden board: one side is the writing desk, the back side has a leather seat to sit on; between seat and table there is a pocket for pencils, notebooks, books. Nothing else needed — besides a teacher . . . and school can begin.

The project is financed by the association AmiMali e.V. Donations are welcome. Communities interested in the Mobile Device feel free to email AmiMali e.V. I am personally very curious how this mobile device will look in different cultures.
More images can be found on the ar2com – kommunikative archietktur aus darmstadt.

Mobile Device for the Desert [ 4:19 ] Play Now | Play in Popup | Download (260)

No School for Tuareg-Kids without Global Communication

Direct communication between human beings beyond cultures and nations is an important task in building a social environment. The right for education is part of the human rights bill. Vernacular buildings help us survive because we need local identity.

In the foto the Tuareg tent is still missing which will arrive in July. More fotos and plans can be seen at the architecture website.

The project is financed by the association AmiMali e.V. Donations are welcome. An annex is in construction. A different Tuareg clan is waiting for its own school.
You can listen to the feature of the Scarab School at the Hessischer Rundfunk, a public German broadcasting station.
The German Newspaper Darmstädter Echo published an article about the school: Die Wüstenschule aus dem Internet Westafrika: Darmstädter Architektin entwarf für und mit Tuareg-Nomaden in Mali einen Unterrichtsbau aus Lehm by Petra Neumann-Prystaj.
The school was presented at the Malian stand during the world urban forum in Rio de Janeiro.
I attached an interview by Salif Sanogo working for TV ORTM, the national broadcasting in Mali, in French.
The Scarab School has been awarded at World Architecture Community.

Scarab School [ 8:43 ] Play Now | Play in Popup | Download (240)

Salif Sanogo interviews the architect at the World (fr) Urban Forum, Rio (ORTM, Bamako - Mali) [ 2:53 ] Play Now | Play in Popup | Download (109)

(de) Philipp Wellhöfer features the Scarab School (HR, Frankfurt - Germany) [ 3:52 ] Play Now | Play in Popup | Download (94)