Architect Anna Heringer turned materials like mud, straw, and bamboo into something the Jury of The Aga Khan Award for Architecture called “… beautiful, meaningful and humane…” when she designed and built METI school in Rudrupur, Bangladesh with the help of dozens of volunteers.
The Jury’s comments also tell us how: “This joyous and elegant two-storey primary school in rural Bangladesh has emerged from a deep understanding of local materials and a heart-felt connection to the local community.”
And in fact, this holistic approach drove the project’s conception it seems: the local NGO wanted to” strengthen regional identity and self confidence” as part of its plan of development, and believes that architecture is intimately connected to that.