Handmade school

What's in a name? Though officially called the Modern Educational and Training Institute (METI) in Rudrapur, Bangladesh, this project is known as Handmade School, a name that means a lot. With the school's goal "to gain and disseminate knowledge and information for optimizing the use of locally available resources," the building becomes not only an expression but a means of achieving this goal. Through the process of building the school, local craftsmen are able to train other local workers, eventually leading to improved standards of construction, particularly in housing.

The Handmade School is the design of Berlin-based architects Roswag & Jankowski Architekten Partnerschaft and Anna F. Heringer. In plan the building is a simple rectangular bar building. The ground floor is built of mud walls made of local earth mixed with rice, straw, and jute. These classrooms are accessed directly from the outside via openings highlighted by brightly-colored panels that contrast with the dried-earth walls. The character of the ground floor is cave-like, stemming from its construction and recalling OMA's single-family house in Bordeaux.