Edutopia - August/September 2008 - (Page 29)

blacktop playgrounds and often less temporary than advertised, are not only a demoralizing place to learn, they are often manufactured using toxic materials. In 2006, Sinclair and Stohr published Design Like You Give a Damn, their ⇒erce, wildly imaginative plea for humanitarianbased architecture. Where else, for example, could you ⇒nd plans for a combined health clinic/soccer center, serving as both the home of its area’s ⇒rst women’s soccer league and as an HIV/AIDS prevention and treatment center? It is the con⇓uence of water, sanitation, and schools that weighs most heavily on the mind of Sinclair, who is more likely working on project sites in India, Sri Lanka, or Nepal than hanging out at AFH headquarters. Sinclair, back from his latest Asian trip, makes clear that educational facilities need to be at the heart of the AFH program, because, “if we create schoolhouses that are places where kids have access to fresh water and sanitation, you can ⇒ght disease and see school at- tendance rocket upward.” In his design universe, he says, it is axiomatic that “sometimes an EcoSan toilet is more important than a blackboard.” Creating or rebuilding schools that function as the center of communities under stress is critical, according to Londonbased AFH architect Susi Jane Platt, “because they are the ⇒rst point of contact critical to making life normal as quickly as possible.” Schools, often the largest structures in a village or town, can function as educational and child care facilities by day, and act as a community center and meeting place for villagers at night. Sinclair mentions one AFH school/library project in Tamil Nadu, India, that so energized the community that residents decided to add a stage for theater performances. “They did it without our knowledge,” Sinclair says, clearly not displeased with the outcome, “and it was great.” AFH does not view refugee and disaster relief as ends in themselves. Rather, according to Platt, intelligent reconstruction COURTESY OF ARCHITECTURE FOR HUMANITY Material World: One size doesn’t ﬁt all when AFH collaborates on global school and community center designs; so local styles and traditional materials prevail. EDUTOPIA.ORG EDUTOPIA 29 http://EDUTOPIA.ORG

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Edutopia - August/September 2008

Edutopia Contents Up Front Feedback Dispatches Sage Advice Ask Ellen Head of Class Cool Schools Design: Building on Disaster What's Next Full-Service Schools In the Trenches Moral Aptitude Serious Gaming Behaveyourself.com Media Is the Message The Way of the Wiki A Match Made in Cyberspace Hail to the New Chief Rise of the Robots Disrupting Class As Others See Us Heart & Soul Pop Quiz: Moby

Edutopia - August/September 2008

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