Cultivating a Community

Idea

Archstorming requested proposals for a school in Marssassoum, Senegal that was:
1. easy to build, 2. kept the existing moraceae tree intact, and 3. had a rain water catchment system

Visitors are greeted by a gabion green wall built from the recycled material of former dilapidated buildings. The wall begins as part of the public facing canteen and spirals inwards into a free-standing vegetation wall. Further into the school grounds, the wall transitions from food resource to social space - becoming seating as it wraps itself around the moraceae tree. The tree acts as one of two nexuses of gathering. Where one nexus offers shade and sustenance, the second acts as a catchment for rainwater and student travel. Roof lines feed into both this catchment and a cistern hidden within a gabion wall, addressing pressing water needs.