Award Cycle: 2011-2013 Cycle
Status: Shortlisted
Country of origin: Afghanistan
Location: Herat, Afghanistan
Client: Maria Grazia Cutuli Foundation
Architect: 2A+P/A, IaN+, Mario Cutuli, ma0/emmeazero, Rome, Italy
Design: 2010
Size: Ground floor area: 650 m² - Total site area: 2000 m²
Completed: 2011
Built in honour of Italian journalist Maria Grazia Cutuli, murdered in Afghanistan in 2001, this school represents an alternative approach to emergency school design for war-torn areas. Like a small village, the complex is intended to resemble an unplanned juxtaposing of elements enclosed by a boundary wall. It accommodates eight classrooms, various staff accommodation, a double-height library and a garden which acts as a green classroom. Built of reinforced concrete with brick cladding, the structures are painted rather than rendered, to save costs. The walls range of blue tones reflects the lapis lazuli pigment used on local pottery, while window frames are in contrasting red.