KNITKNOT ARCHITECTURE LAUNCHED A CAMPAIGN FOR A PROTOTYPE SCHOOL IN NICARAGUA

EL JICARITO SCHOOL is an innovative low-cost school design that brings a community together through collaborative construction methods and local materials, and that creates educational spaces that enhance creativity. Knitknot Architecture has partnered with the local NGO Seeds of Learning to build a two-classroom school prototype for kindergarten and elementary school students. The school will include two classrooms, a multipurpose space, and a public square/playground. 

 

The aim is to explore new construction systems, such as the earth bag or super adobe, that take into account the complex internal dynamics of the communities in which the project is implemented. In other words, this project is to be understood not only as a building, but as a piece of infrastructure that takes into account technical developments but also socio-economic contextual realities.

We propose a two-sided concept:

 

Learning FROM the building + Learning IN the building

 

That is, the school becomes a place to learn, but also a building that can be used as a prototype to push the limits of their current constructions:

 

Construction systems as a learning process for the community

The project proposes the use of materials and building systems that start from those used previously by Seeds Of Learning in other existing buildings (known and accepted by the community) and introduces new earth-based systems so that the community begins to get acquainted and learn to work with them.

 

Thus, the building itself is a process of experimentation and learning for the community, the systems they learn can be applied in other buildings in the near future (housing, warehouses …)

 

 

The classroom space beyond four walls and a roof

 

The school as a public space: The school becomes the public square for the community. An open space defined by two of the facades of school that work as a meeting point, event space, playground…

 

The classrooms are conceived as flexible spaces, in order to stimulate and promote interactive teaching and classes with different formats. The structure and use of materials creates a range from specific classroom spaces and defined according to age groups, to open spaces that add up to the square.

 

 

Nicaragua is one of the countries with less educational resources in Latin America, with hundreds of small communities in need of social and educational infrastructure. The NGO Seeds of Learning has been working in the country for over 25 years, dedicated to enriching the country’s future through an effort focused on improving educational resources.

 

Seeds of Learning has built over 200 classrooms throughout the country using commercial materials such as concrete blocks and steel roofs. These construction methods, however, involve bringing large amounts of industrialized materials and specialized labor off site, often making it unaffordable for the villages. Also, because of lack of resources, these buildings have very basic designs, frequently inefficient and inadequate for a school.

 

 

El Jicarito is a tiny village located in the municipality of Tipitapa, north of the country capital, Managua. Is a rural community with 250 residents who mostly work as farmers, and the 27 kids currently don’t have a school. The kids receive classes in a makeshift hut as a temporary solution, since the nearest primary school is a 1.5 kilometers walk, and the road becomes impassable during the rainy season. As a result, many children either do not attend school or drop out before completion of 6th grade.

 

 

Knitknot Architecture has launched a campaign through the platform indiegogo to raise the $24000 needed to build the school.

 

All your donations will go towards the building of El Jicarito School, providing students with a learning facility they deserve.