Built in cooperation with students and the villagers.
image: Dominic Sansoni | © all rights reserved
image: Dominic Sansoni | © all rights reserved
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Recently nominated for the triennial 'Aga Khan Award for Architecture 2013', this post-tsunami housing project of Shigeru Ban Architects located in Kirinda (Tissamaharama, Sri Lanka) is a good example of a disaster relief project adapted to the needs of it's inhabitants.
Sri Lanka is a very religious country. It is an important part of their daily life. There are four major denominations: Theravada Buddhism (± 70%), Hinduism (± 13%), Islam (± 10%) and Christianity (± 7%).
Since this is a rehabilitation project, the projects main focus was to push down building costs and shorten the time to completion. With this in mind, Shigeru Ban developed a design that has a simplified structure and uses locally produced materials.
Sri Lanka's climate can be described as tropical. The country has year-round warm weather with an average temperature of 28°/30°C. The pattern of life in Sri Lanka depends directly on the availability of rainwater. The coastal village, Kirinda lies in the southeast part of the country which is also known as the 'dry zone'. It receives between 1200/1900 mm of rain annually.
