Anna Heringer-Her work in Bangladesh, Bamboo and Mud Structure

Rural Development Practices

Structures in Rural Context, Rural/ Ingenious Practices

BySaniya nalbandKrimika parekhDipika padteShraddha panchal

Hand-Made School Rudrapur, Bangladesh

Project Year: 2007

• The project is located in the compound of a Bangladeshi NGO, Dipshikha, that is dedicated to helping children in rural areas learn to read and write

People Involved

• Client: Dipshikha Society for Village Development represented by Paul Cherwatigga

• Architect: Anna Heringer • Associate Architect: Eike Roswag

Project Aim

• Improve the quality of living in rural area• Utilise low cost labour and locally available

resources such as earth and bamboo • Main strategy is to communicate and develop

knowledge and skills within the local people so that they can make the best use of locally available resources.

Contextual Information Local architectural character, Climate• Bamboo is used extensively –as structural

members (fastened with jute ropes/string), or flattened for wall panelling, or simply woven together to act as screens.

• Mild in Winter, Hot in Summer.The thick mud walls are obviously good for heat insulation and the thatched roofing does not allow heat to penetrate the interior.

Concept and Design• -account the different learning speeds of the schoolchil- dren and trainees in a free

and open form of learning• -it offers an alternative to the typical frontal approach to lessons• -the architecture of the new school reflects its principle and provides different

kinds of spaces and uses to support this approach to teaching and learning.• -On the ground floor with its thick earth walls, three classrooms are located each

with their own access opening to an organically shaped system of ‘caves’ to the rear of the classroom.

• -The soft interiors of theses spaces are for touching, for nestling up against, for retreating into for exploration or concentration, on one’s own or in a group.

• -The upper floor is by contrast light and open, the openings in its bamboo walls offering sweeping views across the sur- roundings, its large interior providing space for movement.

• -The view expands across the treetops and the village pond. • - Light and shadows from the bamboo strips play across the earth floor and contrast

with the colourful materials of the saris on the ceiling.

Floor plans

Building construction and techniques

• 50 cm deep brick masonary foundation rendered with a facing cement plaster

• damp proof course is a double layer of locally available

• Technique similar to cob walling used in the construction of loadbearing wall

• A straw-earth mixture with a low straw content was manufactured and then heaped on top of the foundation wall to a height of 65cm per layer.

• After a drying period of about a week the next layer of cob can be applied.

• Window lintels and Door Jambs integrated in the 3rd -4th layer with subsequent drying.

• The ceiling of the ground floor is a triple layer of bamboo canes with the central layer arranged perpendicular to the layers above and beneath to provide lateral stabilisation and a connection between the supporting beams.

• Technique similar to European Timber Frame construction used in ceilings(Split Bamboo Used)

• Elaborate framework with the Bamboo provide the skeleton for the structure, bracing it.

• A series of bamboo rafters at half the interval of the frame construction beneath provide support for the corrugated iron roof

Finishes and Fittings• The exterior surface of the earth walls remains

visible and the window jambs are rendered with a lime plaster.

• The framework construction of the green façade to the rear is made of bamboo canes seated in footings made of old well pipe and with split horizontal timbers as latticework.

• The upper storey façades are clad with window frames covered with bamboo strips and coupling elements hung onto the columns of the frame construction.

Users

• The main beneficiaries of this project are children between the age of 6 and 10 from lower income families, mainly farmers, who earn less than Taka 60 a day.

• The teachers certainly enjoy this new environment, which is a bright and breezy setting for the imparting of knowledge. (An existing structure near the new school is still used for extra-curricular activities.)

• There is a general feeling that the project would be a bit difficult for them to replicate, as it involved more work and so may be slightly more expensive.

• Very few local artisans were involved in makin of the project.

To Conclude…