“Our relationship
with ModSkool began in December 2015 when we first visited the
community. Over the last year and a half, we have built further on this by
getting to know the residents and the people running the school. The idea
for ModSkool came with the belief that, as architects, we needed to
step beyond making drawings and handing them out to contractors. Given the
socio-economic and urban reality of the community, we realised that we needed
to work directly with the people we were building for, to understand their
needs and come up with a collaborative building process that could also involve
other like-minded professionals and students,” says Swati Janu, Co-founder of
ModSKOOL.
The
school was built by volunteers and members of the community in July 2017 with
funds raised by project architects Nidhi Sohane and Swati Janu from
their friends and families. The community leader for the project was
24-year-old Naresh Pal, who had mobilised his community to help build the
school. The school has a metal structure which can be unscrewed easily while
the walls are made of reused wood frames with local dried grass mats and split
bamboo woven by volunteers and the students themselves! The engineering
expertise was provided by Vinod Jain, Director of Vintech Consultants, who was
also the largest donor for the project.
An elementary school for around 250 students up to fifth
standard, it will keep them protected from the harsh summer, winter, and rains
which they were exposed to previously while studying under just a plastic sheet
stretched over bamboo.
By building with the
community as opposed to building for them, the aim was to empower them by
creating a sense of ownership, identity, and pride. The design of the bamboo
walls came up in consultation with the community members who work with the
material. The walls of the school are temporary and can change over time
through different weaving patterns.
Swati is a 33-year-old community architect and artist who has
been working to bring design to those who do not have access to it. She is the
creative director at mHS CITY LAB and the coordinator of Barsati, a
programme based on talks on social change. A graduate of School of Planning and
Architecture, Delhi, she also holds an MSc in Sustainable Urban Development
from the University of Oxford, UK.
Nidhi is a
25-year-old community architect who believes in design that catalyses social
change. Project coordinator at mHS CITY LAB, she is also a graduate of
School of Planning and Architecture, Delhi.
“Being used to the general approach of building, I was
surprised to see how there was no strict hierarchy that was
followed. Being the project architects, Swati and Nidhi had a
strong hold on the thought of an inclusive approach. Everyone — the architects,
the volunteers, and the people of the community — had a say in
everything. I distinctly remember how even the most important decisions in
critical situations were taken by myself and other volunteers. It was about
trust and believing in each other,” says Amarinder Singh Arora, a 24-year-old
architect.
The best part of the
overall experience, Amarinder shares, was how they learnt new things and came
up with solutions on site, be it carpentry or handling machinery. He adds,
By building the
school, the team feels that their engagement with the communities at Yamuna
Khadar has just begun and they want to build on this relationship. Speaking
about their future plans, Swati says, “We have plans to build a community
library there next and look at sanitation solutions if we have enough support
and can collect sufficient funds. There are informally built parts of the city
which many of us may not know about or engage with but this is where our
service providers live. For instance, Yamuna Khadar is home to farmers from
whom the city gets its vegetables and crops. While we use the service provided
by security guards, maids, rickshaw pullers, and so many others, we also need
to think of how we can give back and work with them in building a better city.”
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