ASSIGNMENT
PRIMARY SCHOOL, HERAT, AFGHANISTAN – 2011

Short-listed for the 2013 Aga Khan Award for Architecture.

DESIGN TEAM:
2A+P/A (Gianfranco Bombaci, Matteo Costanzo), Mario Cutuli, IaN+, ma0/emmeazero
PHOTO:
Giovanna Silva and Antonio Ottomanelli
MODEL:
Marco Galofaro – Modelab

In 2001 Maria Grazia Cutuli, a prominent Italian journalist, was murdered by a group of gunmen in Afghanistan. Ten years later, the Foundation named in her honour decided to build a “sign of peace”: a school that was an innovative educational space offering an alternative to the conventional models associated with post-war emergency reconstruction. The first challenge was the researching of a layout capable of matching evocative spaces to existing functional needs. In fact, the building is comprised of a boundary line formed by a seemingly random arrangement of modules. It hosts eight classrooms, a double-height library, a secretarial office, staffrooms and a caretaker’s house. Both external and internal spaces contribute tothe shaping of the educational environment.