By Charles Pensulo, Thomson Reuters Foundation
7 Min Read 3D printing is faster and greener than conventional construction Many schools in Africa suffer from overcrowding, dropouts
SALIMA, Malawi, July 12 (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - G athered under the hot sun, dozens of women danced and sang in jubilation as children from the village of Salima, in central Malawi, started their first day at their new 3D-printed school, which had been built from the ground up in only 15 hours.
Made of concrete placed layer by layer through a computer-controlled nozzle, the school is made up of a single room with rounded corners and is big enough to accommodate 50 students.
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This 3D-Printed School in Madagascar In Inspired By Beehives
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The new Beehives-inspired 3D printed school project in Madagascar is a mix of innovative technology and sustainable architecture while reaching new humanitarian work boundaries. The project implementers, Thinking Huts, are expecting to raise around $350,000 for its completion.
‘Thinking Huts’ is a Colorado-based non-profit organization, and it has joined hands with an architectural firm specializing in 3D technology. Their collective goal was to build the world’s first-ever 3D printed school in Madagascar.
Their mission is to blend the humanitarian work with sustainability and innovative new design to provide a setup for young children’s education. Madagascar’s school will exist using 3D printed walls and other construction materials that are locally sourced, such as roof, windows, and doors.
An NGO is building the world’s first 3D-printed school as a way to address the need for further educational spaces in under-resourced communities. The nonprofit Thinking Huts is behind the pilot project on the African island nation of Madagascar, which will be escalated to other countries in the future to increase global access to education.
Credit: Studio Mortazavi/Thinking Huts.
The school was designed by Studio Mortazavi, an architecture firm based in San Francisco and Lisbon, in alliance with Thinking Huts. The NGO specifically chose Madagascar for the pilot among other countries because of stable political outlook, renewable energy potential and need for further educational infrastructure.