2016 Theresa KotullaTheresa Kotulla - Developing a school in Himalaya
Developing a school in Himalaya, India
The northern part of the India is strongly influenced by the Himalayas. There is the village Sani, where a boarding school is planned as part of this thesis. In the last years the situtiation has improved, but the quality of education is in most parts of India still very poor.
Due to the weather conditions in Sani it is in general not possible for teachers to reach Sani for official school begin. Furthermore the winter temperature drops so much that in the normal school building, no lessons can be held. For this reason, the lessons in the winter months often had to be canceled. Several years ago, two buildings have been construced whose architecture guarantees a room temperature which is sufficient to stay there for several hours.
As part of this master thesis these buildings have been extended to a year-round usable schoolcomplex for grade 1 to 12 including accommodations for students and teachers. The planning was based on three different theoretical questions:
Region - Sani Zanskar
What influence do the local geographic, climatic and cultural conditions have on the planning of the boarding school?
Condition - Build in high mountains
How can traditional building methods and local materials of the Himalayas and Zanskar be applied in the construction?
Task - School Building
What does a boarding school in Zanskar and in the context of the Indian education system afford?
The goal is to plan a self-sufficient and independent of external influences schoolcomplex. Which is a home to students and teachers as well as gives them the opportunity to provide for themselves. In this way, the children of Sani and the surrounding villages have the opportunity to graduate from high school, without taking the risk of extremly long ways to school.
The northern part of the India is strongly influenced by the Himalayas. There is the village Sani, where a boarding school is planned as part of this thesis. In the last years the situtiation has improved, but the quality of education is in most parts of India still very poor.
Due to the weather conditions in Sani it is in general not possible for teachers to reach Sani for official school begin. Furthermore the winter temperature drops so much that in the normal school building, no lessons can be held. For this reason, the lessons in the winter months often had to be canceled. Several years ago, two buildings have been construced whose architecture guarantees a room temperature which is sufficient to stay there for several hours.
As part of this master thesis these buildings have been extended to a year-round usable schoolcomplex for grade 1 to 12 including accommodations for students and teachers. The planning was based on three different theoretical questions:
Region - Sani Zanskar
What influence do the local geographic, climatic and cultural conditions have on the planning of the boarding school?
Condition - Build in high mountains
How can traditional building methods and local materials of the Himalayas and Zanskar be applied in the construction?
Task - School Building
What does a boarding school in Zanskar and in the context of the Indian education system afford?
The goal is to plan a self-sufficient and independent of external influences schoolcomplex. Which is a home to students and teachers as well as gives them the opportunity to provide for themselves. In this way, the children of Sani and the surrounding villages have the opportunity to graduate from high school, without taking the risk of extremly long ways to school.
