Rwanda keeps raising the standards that most African countries are neglecting.
Ruhehe Primary School sits along a gently curving wall of local volcanic stone, paying homage to Rwandan craftsmanship. Volcanic rock on the walls. Clay roofing tiles that muffle rainfall so lessons continue through storms. Woven bamboo and bark panels filtering light and absorbing sound. 80 percent of construction materials sourced within 50 kilometres of the site. 75 percent of the budget spent inside Ruhehe Village and Musanze district. 110 local workers hired. 35 percent of them women.
Now look at what we build and call a school across most of this continent. A cement block box. Plastered over. Painted yellow on top and ox-blood red at the bottom. No ventilation strategy. No acoustic consideration. No connection to the landscape or the culture. A building that could exist anywhere and therefore belongs nowhere.
The material knowledge is here. The stone is here. The clay is here. Rwanda proved that building well does not cost more and it costs differently, and it pays back in ways a painted cement box never will.
This is not a foreign standard. This is an African one.
Ruhehe Primary School, Musanze District, Rwanda 🇷🇼 | MASS Design Group African Design Centre | 1,120 students | 2018 | 📷 Iwan Baan