MOZAMBIQUE PRESCHOOL - Architecture competition - ARCHSTORMING

· BRIEF ·

· introduction ·

Archstorming’s new competition takes us to Mozambique, a country where 70% of the population lives below the poverty line. This difficult economic situation, most severely affects the situation of children.
Frequently, the lack of financial resources is a significant barrier to the enjoyment of their fundamental rights. They experience many problems; such as the inability to access school, health-care, and housing…

· the NGO ·

In the current competition, we will help Assa, a Mozambican teacher, build a center for children with disabilities and affected by social exclusion, with the help of the Estamos Juntos Initiative and the NGO Somos del Mundo. The winning proposal will be built.

· the location ·

Archstorming is calling for proposals to design a preschool in the Xai-Xai District (Gaza Province, Mozambique).
The school will be located in a plot between the cities of Xai-Xai and Chongoene, approximately 1 km away of the road that connects them.

· challenge ·

This competition gives you the opportunity to work in the creation of a school in an underdeveloped country. But not only that, in this case the school will be designed for disabled and socially excluded children, so the challenge is even bigger.
The goals of this project will be:
- EDUCATE: create a place where kids can start their educational journey. Make them feel like home by designing a space where they feel comfortable. Build kid-friendly spaces that are completely safe for them, a school where they can learn, play, run, and discover.
- INTEGRATE: since this school will accommodate disabled children and kids in social exclusion, it is fundamental to work in their integration in society. We can help them through architecture by creating adapted spaces where they don’t feel rejected. A dynamic school where they can interact with each other and the surrounding environment.
- BE SUSTAINABLE: the projects will have to use locally sourced materials, easy to build constructive systems, and should be selfsufficient in energy terms. They have to be respectful with nature in order to teach the kids the proper way to interact with their natural environment.