2. Architects: 2A+P/A, Gianfranco Bombaci, Matteo
Costanzo
IaN+ – Carmelo Baglivo, Luca Galofaro,
Stefania Manna;
Ma0 – Massimo Ciuffini, Ketty Di Tardo,
Alberto Iacovoni, Luca La Torre with Architect Mario Cutuli
Location: Kush Rod, Injil District, Herat, Afghanistan
Structures: Studio Croci Associati Ing. Federico Croci
Completion: April 2011
Site Area: 2,000 sqm
School Area: 650 sqm
Construction cost is about 150.000 €,
3. The school was built in
honour of Italian journalist Maria
Grazia Cutuli, who was murdered in
Afghanistan in 2001, and represents
an alternative approach to
emergency school design for war-
torn areas
her brother, Mario Cutuli ,an
architect, has created a school
to her memory and a new
message of hope for the
country’s future generation
5. The research for an
innovative educational space as
an alternative to those models
related to the after-war
reconstruction emergencies has
been one of the key points of the
project
The design of the
outside space as a ‘green
classroom’
The attempt to use
local technologies and
construction materials mainly.
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13. The colours of the structure will help
make it a recognizable landmark that is
visible from a distance
The site of the school is a dry,
dusty, flat piece of land in Kush
Rod village, bordered on the
north by the dark Hindu Kush
Mountains
14. The structure of the building is a
reinforced concrete frame, closed by solid
bricks
All the materials and the applied
technologies have been defined according to
the local uses
All the façades and the border walls
will be painted using different tones of blue
This colour is usually used in
Afghanistan and the aim of the project is to
create a blue landmark visible from the
surroundings
15. The windows have
been designed as iron
frames, painted in red to
make contrast with the blue
of the walls.
The orientation of the
classrooms and the design of
the façades have been
thought to assure the right
amount of daylight and
natural ventilation
16. two-storey library rises above blue-painted
walls surrounding a cluster of blue-painted
single-storey classrooms
The only two-floors volume is the
library that acts as a symbolic
landmark for the village.
red iron frames the windows
of a two storey library that
additionally bolsters a
program of eight classrooms,
secretarial office,
staffrooms and a caretaker's
house
17. an articulated layout: a series of
linked boxes containing both the classrooms
and the connection corridors
The only two-floors volume is
the library that acts as a symbolic landmark for
the village
The complex is enclosed by an
equally bright protective wall, so as to create a
space free of distraction
18. Both external and internal spaces
contribute in the definition of the educational
environment
Among the classrooms there are
small and intimate outdoor spaces where kids
can stay, play and relax under the shadow of
about fifty trees
The main courtyard, embraced by
the building represents the most relational
space of the school
