EARTH ARCHITECTURE HANDMADE SCHOOL BANGLADESH

METI school is hand-built in four months by architects, local craftsmen, pupils, parents and teachers, this primary school in Rudrapur, a village in north west Bangladesh, uses traditional methods and materials of construction but adapts them in new ways. the architects, Anna Aeringer from Austria and Eike Roswag from Germany, made every effort to engage the skills of local craftsmen, helping them refine processes and learn new techniques that they could then use to improve the general standard of rural housing.

The design solution used in this rural town may not be replicable in other parts of the islamic world as local conditions vary. However, new design solutions can emerge from an in-depth knowledge of the local context and new ways of building. This provides a fresh and hopeful model for sustainable building globally. The final result of this heroic volunteer effort is a building that creates beautiful, meaningful and humane collective spaces for learning which enrich the lives of the children it serves.

The construction method used is a historical earth building technique similar to cob-walling which is ideal for 'self building'. The wet earth is mixed with straw and applied to the wall in layers. Each layer is approximately 50-70 cm high, and after a couple of days drying, it is trimmed on the sides with a sharp spade to obtain a regular flat wall surface. After a second drying period, a further layer can be added. The earth in this region is well-suited for such construction and the stability of the mixture was improved by adding rice, straw and jute.

Earth construction: the most important technical improvement in comparison to traditional buildings is the introduction of a damp proof course and a brick foundation. The traditional building technique (which uses very wet earth) has been replaced by the 'weller' technique that is quite similar to the traditional one.