Primary School Tanouan Ibi | LEVS architecten

The village of Tanouan Ibi is situated on the plain, one hour driving from the main village Koundou in Dogon country, next to the rockface of Bandiagara in Mali (World Cultural Heritage of Humanity, Unesco 1986). The ensemble is composed of different buildings. The first block is a school of three classes with two verandas and a curved roof. Next to this the installation of the sanitary block is arranged. The enclosure and the planting of trees will follow afterwards. The school is complying with the demands imposed by the government and by the CAP (Centre d'Animation Pédagogique). A classroom has a surface of 7 x 9 m² and offers space to about 60 students. In total the school delivers space to minimally 180 students (3 classrooms) and an office with storage facilities for the director. The architecture of the school building is a search for a connection with the local traditions of building, of culture and of architecture. Through the use of a newly developed hydraulic-compressed earth block, the building withstands the climate of both hot sunlight and heavy rainfall. The stones are produced on the spot from locally mined clay. Processed in vaults, they provide an optimal cooling climate. The search for connection also implies seeking an expression joining itself to an architecture applying partitions of surfaces, openings and closures, windows and door frames and decorative forms. The use of these blocks of compressed earth, leads to a supple integration into the environment, corresponding to the way almost all Dogon villages fit into the landscape. The language of forms is a clear consequence of functional requirements. The structure of the school building is unique with two verandas running parallel to the class rooms. The two verandas operate like buttresses to be able to capture the weight of the barrel vaults in the roofs over the classrooms. Next to this, the verandas, equipped with small stone benches, offer pleasant exterior room to the students. The verandas have been built in strokes of blocks of compressed earth. At the entries the blocks follow the tension lines of the arcs, which lead to characteristic openings. The roof and the eaves have been accentuated by an additional layer of stones and by dilatation stones, separating the barrel vaults. The roof has been covered by a thick layer of 20-30 mm of red earth, mixed with cement in order to achieve a water proof and water resistant layer. The gargoyles, manufactured by the local people named Bozo, guarantee the swift drainage of rainwater. In the roof, custom made ceramic tubes have been inserted, providing ventilation for a pleasant inside climate and allowing daylight through the roof, like a starry sky. During the rainy season (2 months), taking place out of the school period, these tubes can be closed. The openings in the facades, with their window frames and with blinds, are painted in a fresh and yellow color. The floor stones have been laid down in a decorative pattern.