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Ecole du Scarabée - Scarab School
Ecole du Scarabée - Scarab School
Timbuktu, Mali
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Other Projects by ar2com - kommunikative architektur aus darmstadt
Ecole du Scarabée - Scarab School
Timbuktu, Mali
Type
YEAR
2010
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.
The Scarab School in the desert combines two traditions: the local
one of the city of Timbuktu which is adobe and the moving one of the
Tuareg nomads from the Southern Sahara which is the tent. This
combination of the two cultures is simple and real but in reality there
is . . .
Besides the construction itself the working method was exceptional and
should be mentioned in a project of sustainability. Sustainable mostly
means something which has grown – the project of the Scarab School has
grown within two continents. The locals as well as the Germans were
included equally in every single step of the process of design and
construction. Due to the electronic communication we had to express
ourselves precisely and talk it over on the phone. We had to accept
this way of communication since we could not fly over to meet.
This is the century of communication. Collaboration between
cultures happens via internet or via mobile phone. We knew this
Tuareg-clan settling since a few years north of Timbuktu, who had asked
us, an interpreter and an architect from Darmstadt, Germany, to help
with the construction of their first permanent (educational) building
for their kids. Of course, we joined in; didn’t we have a splendid time
together some years ago in the desert …
A process between two continents got started – running almost
4,000 km: some presentation sketches were sent via email as JPGs from
middle Europe to Mali, West Africa; but the adequate communication had
still to be learnt; the newly found name Scarab School brands a
tangible idea for all participants and motivates the whole team.
Proposing, presenting, asking, checking and asking again is done via
VoIP-mobile phone-connection.
The above text sounds like the beginning of one of those futuristic
stories from the seventies, yet this is our built reality on the desert
sands of Timbuktu. Completion of the Scarab School was within 3 and
half months of construction time in July 2009. Throughout the whole
process consisting in designing, site management, completion as well as
use of the building, restoration after heavy rainfalls and in an
additional annex two characteristics were noted: the harmonious
communication as well as the horizontally structured collaboration
between a „developing country“ or for the case being a „nation without
country“ and on the other hand a „highly civilized industrial country“.
The concept, the work flow, the building itself and hopefully the
didactic in this building will thrive on dehierarchization! Our
collaboration is about processes, which are – given our constantly
changing world – more important than results and more important than
immutable ultimate results.
An open process allows much better to integrate all those ideas which have survived the process.
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.
The Scarab School in the desert combines two traditions: the local
one of the city of Timbuktu which is adobe and the moving one of the
Tuareg nomads from the Southern Sahara which is the tent. This
combination of the two cultures is simple and real but in reality there
is . . .
Besides the construction itself the working method was exceptional and
should be mentioned in a project of sustainability. Sustainable mostly
means something which has grown – the project of the Scarab School has
grown within two continents. The locals as well as the Germans were
included equally in every single step of the process of design and
construction. Due to the electronic communication we had to express
ourselves precisely and talk it over on the phone. We had to accept
this way of communication since we could not fly over to meet.
This is the century of communication. Collaboration between
cultures happens via internet or via mobile phone. We knew this
Tuareg-clan settling since a few years north of Timbuktu, who had asked
us, an interpreter and an architect from Darmstadt, Germany, to help
with the construction of their first permanent (educational) building
for their kids. Of course, we joined in; didn’t we have a splendid time
together some years ago in the desert …
A process between two continents got started – running almost
4,000 km: some presentation sketches were sent via email as JPGs from
middle Europe to Mali, West Africa; but the adequate communication had
still to be learnt; the newly found name Scarab School brands a
tangible idea for all participants and motivates the whole team.
Proposing, presenting, asking, checking and asking again is done via
VoIP-mobile phone-connection.
The above text sounds like the beginning of one of those futuristic
stories from the seventies, yet this is our built reality on the desert
sands of Timbuktu. Completion of the Scarab School was within 3 and
half months of construction time in July 2009. Throughout the whole
process consisting in designing, site management, completion as well as
use of the building, restoration after heavy rainfalls and in an
additional annex two characteristics were noted: the harmonious
communication as well as the horizontally structured collaboration
between a „developing country“ or for the case being a „nation without
country“ and on the other hand a „highly civilized industrial country“.
The concept, the work flow, the building itself and hopefully the
didactic in this building will thrive on dehierarchization! Our
collaboration is about processes, which are – given our constantly
changing world – more important than results and more important than
immutable ultimate results.
An open process allows much better to integrate all those ideas which have survived the process.
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