PREMISE

Archstorming's new competition takes us to Mozambique, a country where 70% of the population lives below the poverty line. This difficult economic situation, most severely affects the situation of children. Frequently, the lack of financial resources is a significant barrier to the enjoyment of their fundamental rights. They experience many problems, such as the inability to access school, health-care, and housing...

In Mozambique, one child out of five is not educated. Preschool is neither mandatory nor free.

For those who go to school, study conditions are very different from the conditions of those in developed countries. The buildings, school equipment and facilities (chairs, tables, desks...) are in bad shape or absent.

Moreover, the figures show a discrepancy of the education between boys and girls. The classes have a majority of young boys. This is in part because of the profusion of harassment and sexual violence in schools toward girls.

Besides that, in Mozambique, 14% of children between two and nine years old are disabled. They are often hidden away by their families – in effect rendered invisible – and are vulnerable to discrimination as well as an increased risk of violence. These children need greater support from their families and better access to education, which would enable them to attend school with their peers. But that can only happen if the necessary facilities, equipment and training are provided.

In the current competition, we will help Assa, a Mozambican teacher, build a center for children with disabilities and affected by social exclusion, with the help of the Estamos Juntos Initiative and the NGO Somos del Mundo.


CHALLENGE

This competition gives you the opportunity to work in the creation of a school in an underdeveloped country. But not only that, in this case the school will be designed for disabled and socially excluded children, so the challenge is even bigger.

The goals of this project will be:

- EDUCATE: create a place where kids can start their educational journey. Make them feel like home by designing a space where they feel comfortable. Build kid-friendly spaces that are completely safe for them, a school where they can learn, play, run, and discover.

- INTEGRATE: since this school will accommodate disabled children and kids in social exclusion, it is fundamental to work in their integration in society. We can help them through architecture by creating adapted spaces where they don't feel rejected. A dynamic school where they can interact with each other and the surrounding environment.

- BE SUSTAINABLE: the projects will have to use locally sourced materials, easy to build constructive systems, and should be selfsufficient in energy terms. They have to be respectful with nature in order to teach the kids the proper way to interact with their natural environment.


AWARDS

First Prize: 6.000€ + Project Construction
Second Prize: 2.000€
Third Prize: 1.000€


For more information please visit:
http://www.archstorming.com/info