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Senegal Elementry school

The Learning Field project is an architectural field in Marsassoum, Sénégal that offers studying, working, and meeting space for children, youth, and adults in the local community.

With Yuval Yadlin

Utility and program The two types of classrooms, frontal and workshop/lab, provide for different kinds of learning. The frontal classrooms are located further away from the yard and function as a quiet learning space. The professional classrooms, are connected to an agriculture yard by a dynamic façade that can be opened almost completely, turning the workshops and yard into one continuous space. The workshops are suitable for making local crafts and for local crops processing.
A double façade with different entrances allows an easy transformation of the space as needed.
The school is suitable for day and night classes and thus allows education and professionalization opportunities for multiple age groups at different times of the day.

Construction The project is divided into three main masses with intermediate open spaces between them. Each mass is designated through a different program: Frontal classrooms, labs and workshops, and an administrative structure.
A system of clay bricks and wooden columns and beams rests on a constructive concrete base and is covered with an insulated concrete ceiling. Each mass gets a different cladding: terra cotta-colored combed plaster for the classrooms and workshops, natural stone for the administrative building, and white plaster for the canteen.
A tin roof is placed as a separate system on top of wooden trusses to create a buffer from heat and radiation.
The field is divided into two sections which allows for the construction to be completed in two stages. The first section, the administrative building and the workshops, can be built first a stand-alone U shaped system. The second section, comprised of three additional classrooms and a private outdoor seating area, can be added as a second stage.

Appearance The building materials are mostly local and thus allow integration into the local landscape. The simple construction techniques allow quick learning and replication of the structure in near-by settings for the use of the local community.
Three translucent walls made of spacious clay bricks, located between the site and the street, create a buffer for privacy and quieter atmosphere, and serve as a climatic buffer that regulates the classrooms temperature.

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