GUI

★ Second Prize National Competition Brazil

The competition brief involved the construction of a 350m² school to be built by the Bissau community. The construction of the school is part of a Cooperation Project coordinated by the Agência Brasileira de Cooperação, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, with the participation of NGOs and the support of the IAB / DF.

It has a nuclear shape, it is a shell with cover, extending further than its perimeter. The structure acts as a centripetal force; the community has a central heart to develop activities, collect water, etc.

Local plots of land can eventually become extensions of the school.

Supporting Adobe block walls meet the metal sheet cover to respect the building methods of the community. The shape is innovative; however, everyone knows how to build it, encouraging community participation and auto-construction.

Using waste is a simple and perfect strategy for the less benefitted communities. Recycled tires are easy to obtain and become perfect molds. Tires can be used as formwork of foundations or as compacted ground gabion molds to form a plateau.

In the rainy season, the inner courtyard is transformed into an open-air reservoir. In the dry season, it becomes a patio, with well-defined limits for young kids.

This method can be extended until you get lattices that filter the light and allow the passage of air. As a consequence of hot air coming out naturally, air circulation beneath the ceiling cools the environment.

MV Architects + MAPA
MV Architects: Sergio Barreto, Javier Navarro.
MAPA Partners: Luciano Andrades, Matías Carballal, Rochelle Castro, Andrés Gobba, Mauricio López, Silvio Machado, Álvaro Méndes.

Project team: Aldo Lanzi, Emiliano Etchegaray, Gabriel Giambastiani, Diogo Valls
Collaborators: Martín Pronczuk, Santiago Saettone.
Renders: MASA
Area: 720m2