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Laura Strähle & Ellen Rouwendal www.laurakatharinastraehle.com

From Landscape to Roofscape

By 01-07-2017

ArchiPrix 2017
The graduation project Design & Build: From Landscape to Roofscape by Laura Strähle and Ellen Rouwendal (TU Delft, Architecture) has been awarded the first prize of the Archiprix 2017; the best graduation plans of Dutch spatial design education.

A multifunctional pavilion for public use in East Africa
The design constructs a roofscape of pavilions for multifunctional public use in the rural areas around Lake Victoria. It proposes using small-scale interventions to initiate positive developments in poor areas and applies sustainable and innovative solutions in the use of materials and responds to the climate. The project also locks into local socioeconomic problems. In using the construction principle of a reciprocal roof made from local bamboo, the design creates a pavilion of flexible structure. This can be adapted, clustered and copied in many ways depending on the context.

A Design & Build Studio combines architectural theory with practical experience by physically constructing the developed design in a specific context. Besides designing the community centre, there are other aspects involved – estimating costs, planning construction phases, compiling a manual, acquiring funds, acting as site manager – that are all part of the challenge of discovering the potential of the Design & Build approach at an academic level.

The first project was built In four months -these together with a local work force and an international group of volunteers- in Okana, a small village in Western Kenya. It serves as a community centre and includes a library, ICT facilities and a sewing studio. This project focuses on strengthening the sense of community in the village by offering a learning friendly environment, employment and a place to meet where the villagers have the opportunity to develop their potentials. The community centre is self-supporting, earning its income by selling services and products that have been locally cultivated and produced.