by: lu.di.ca architetti a favore della associazione QUA LA MANO | data 14/12/2020
***Update*** Third goal achieved: the classrooms are ready to be built! In no time these classrooms will be attended by 100 kids who can’t wait to go to school! Next step: Let's focus on the school services starting from the classroom of psychomotricity! Studying the project, we understood how important psychomotor activity is in kindergarten for the well-being of children. It promotes the development, learning and expression of all personalities: motor, affective, relational and cognitive, conceived not as separate areas but in a global perspective of the child. The psychomotor activity helps children to grow harmoniously, accompanying and promoting their identity definition process. So much important stuff! What do you think, isn’t it beautiful?! ***Update*** Thank you for everyone's overwhelming generosity. Let's keep it up ☺ We completed the second goal without even realizing it. These donations will be enough to ensure the construction of another complete classroom with facilities and equipment for another 30 children. THANK YOU VERY MUCH! But as you all know we can’t stop here: two classrooms are not enough to fulfill our promises, we dream to build an entire kindergarten. Next step: the construction of the last classroom, the 5's year old kids’ one! Anyway, let's not forget that the project include a gym for psychomotor skills development, the canteen with a proper kitchen and teacher’s offices! And last but not least, the outdoor courtyard for playing! If we reach 30,000 euros, we could finance the building of the THIRD CLASSROOM! Continue to believe in this project with us! ***Update*** Your support and generosity make us believe that we can really build this magnificent school soon! Indeed, in just 9 days, we reached together the initial goal, raising enough funds to build the FIRST CLASSROOM! But one classroom alone is not enough! Our BIGGEST goal is to build an entire kindergarten, made of 3 classrooms, a psychomotor room, a canteen with kitchen and offices! And then the outdoor courtyard with a playground, greenery and space to run around! So, we can't stop here at all! Anyway we absolutely won’t quit yet! For this very reason we decided not to stop, aiming even higher. Indeed, if we'll reach the goal of € 20,000 we'll be able to finance also the construction of the SECOND CLASSROOM! We still have time to reach the new goal together! We need your help and your formidable word of mouth! ***We are a group of young architects but above all, of friends: we want to build a kindergarten using sustainable materials in Peru, and more precisely in Encañada, where a proper kindergarten does not exist.
Our next goal will be to raise € 15,000 for the PSYCHOMOTRICITY classroom: this will include all the furniture needed to make it functional, with equipment for physical activity and a proper flooring to cushion and mitigate falls!
FIRST STEP TO MAKE THIS PROJECT A REALITY!
Thanks to this fundraiser we will be able to build the FIRST CLASSROOM:
It will be self-standing, with independent restrooms and ready to welcome up to 30 children!
Let’s take one step at a time, we know that that’s important not to get ahead of ourselves ;)
The project idea
It is an architectural, educational and collaborative project born with the intention of leaving a positive environmental and humanitarian footprint. The idea is to design and build a new childcare facility with local sustainable materials (raw earth, straw, wood and recycled materials), in a village where a proper kindergarten does not exist (Encañada, in the North of Perù). We will start taking the big first leap: starting raising funds for the FIRST CLASSROOM which, upon completion will be able to welcome up to 30 children. It will be approximately 70 square meters, featuring an outdoor area, equipped with a playground, a garden and room to run and play. The interiors will be furnished to accommodate the children’s needs and divided into multiple areas for different experiences, with the promise of providing a welcoming educational environment with the least environmental impact.
Why a kindergarten dedicate to Adele
The kindergarten name will be “El Jardín de Adele” and it will be dedicated to a baby girl gone too soon to see all the wonders of this world. Adele falls into the perinatal deaths category, a condition that is not widely talked about. Only when experienced on one’s own skin, it is possible to fully understand how many families are affected by or have gone through it and share the same pain. The main intention that propels the project is to make something beautiful out of this suffering! Adele will never go to school, but thanks to her we will secure a brighter future for many kids.
We hope in this way to reach and help as many people as possible and to contribute to the diffusion of alternative local building methods and techniques, which have sustainability as a goal and heritage preservation at their core.
The village of Encañada
El Jardín de Adele (Jardín in spanish means kindergarten) will be built in the village of Encañada, which is in the North of Perù at more than 3.000 meters above sea level. To be accurate, here: 7°05'14.0"S 78°20'32.9"W. It is situated in a green area at the slopes of the mountains, close to a small river, the sound of which will contribute to the education context in harmony with nature.
In the municipality of Encañada lives a group of Italian missionaries belonging to the "QUA LA MANO" non-profit association. They have done extensive volunteer work throughout the years and it will be their pledge to manage the kindergarten. For many years now, the village has been in vital need of a safe and stable educational facility for the local children to learn, grow and thrive.
What the funds will be used for
Your donation is essential! With your help we will be able to get all the materials needed and to start the construction of the first classroom. We want to lead construction following the “community building” approach, getting not only local builders and artisans involved but, especially the association’s volunteers willing to take part in this project!
More specifically, the funds will be used for:
Land groundwork for the first classroom: € 500
Continuous cast-in-place concrete fundations for first classroom: € 1500
Tapial (rammed earth) exterior walls and interior partition for the first classroom: € 500
Wooden roof for the first classroom: € 2000
Flooring and bathroom finishes for the first classroom: € 1000
Exterior fenestration and interior wooden doors for the first classroom: € 500
wooden furniture for the first classroom: € 500
indoor sanitary equipment: € 1000
guarantee adequate compensation for local building workers: € 2500
We want to stick to the architectural traditions of the country and we want to use as many locally sourced materials as possible. The exterior walls will be in rammed earth and include a local construction technique known as tapial, very common in the surrounding areas. Raw earth is mixed with straw to increase stability with important advantages for a place suited to host children aged 3 to 6: excellent thermal behavior, acoustic insulation, balance of humidity exchange between inside and outside, fireproofing, high resistance to shocks and cost reduction but, above all, it is an ecological, sustainable technique.
A ventilated crawl space beneath the slab, created by savaged old tires, will prevent water and humidity from rising in the main space in contact with the ground.
How the kindergarten will be
With the purpose of following the land configuration organically, the school complex will be divided into multiple buildings, each of which will reflect one of the four major functions of kindergartens: education, fun, nutrition and management. All the buildings will face a common internal courtyard; in the middle of it, a big tree will act as a gathering element forthe school as a whole and will promote convivial and social activities. And why not, maybe one day it will host a treehouse on its branches!
There will be 3 classrooms, with an area of 70 square meters each. The learning activities will be organized into areas: there will be space for playing, drawing, reading and sharing. Each classroom will have an allocated section in the courtyard with toys and a small garden for plants and vegetables so that each class, and every student in it, will feel responsible for taking care of their green area.
A common room will be dedicated to physical activity, so that the kids will be able to exercise and have fun with objects such as ladders, psychomotor balls, cubes, ramps, mats.
Additionally, a canteen with a fully equipped kitchen will satisfy the nutrition needs of the children. And finally, a common outdoor play area facing the river will also be implemented. All the buildings are set to exclusively have one floor.
Sustainable development goals
In our small way, we are committed to follow some of the Sustainable Development Goals and contribute in achieving a cleaner and safer future. Our intention is to build using only local construction techniques and as many locally sourced building materials as possible. For example, the soil removed from the land to level the ground will be used to make the exterior and the windows and wood furniture will be made by the collaborators employed in the mission’s co-op and Art School.
These are the goals we are setting with this project:
1_ no povertyAbout us
The young collective lu.di.ca architetti was born from the desire of four architect friends and a doctor friend to give life to an educational and collaborative design project: Adele’s kindergarten. All born in the Romagna region of Italy, we now live in different cities (Faenza, Turin and Paris) and we have combined our small and diversified experiences for this common goal.
Perù was almost a natural choice as the kindergarten destination: Lucilla lived there for almost 3 years as a volunteer with the association “Qua la mano” in the Encañada mission. We are certain that this kindergarten will be extraordinarily managed and taken care of over the years and that the children will receive a solid early education and constant nutrition at such a crucial moment in their lives.
Siamo un gruppo di giovani architetti ma soprattutto di amici: vogliamo costruire un asilo con materiali sostenibili in Perù, nel paese di Encañada dove una scuola materna non c’è! La scuola sarà gestita dai volontari della associazione "Qua La Mano" che dal 2002 sono presenti nel paese di Encañada. L'associazione "QUA LA MANO" ha lo scopo principale di apportare contributi all'ideale di un'unica famiglia umana fondata sulla pace, il dialogo, la giustizia, il rispetto dei diritti umani e dell'ambiente! In Italia coinvolge tanti giovani in attività di animazione in oratorio/parrocchie e si preoccupa di trovare fondi, per sostenere le missioni in Perù (Encañada, Polloc, Cajamarca, Pariamarca) e di Escoma in Bolivia (dal 2016)! In terra di missione sono tante le opere avviate tra cui scuole professionali, case di accoglienza per infermi, altre per orfani e case parrocchiali che sono diventate punti di ascolto e primo aiuto per la popolazione.
