Woman's House - Kaira Looro 2021 | Luca Ruggieri

TEAM:

Arch. Luca Ruggieri

Arch. Federico Antonino Spina

Arch. Giuseppe Privitera

1. DESIGN
Women in Africa contribute substantially to the development of the continent. Their role is
central to the livelihood and well-being of their families and to the economy of each country.
They are the engine of society, the villages in which they live, the houses they live in and the
families they take care of. Nevertheless, their rights are not respected, and all too often
women remain defenseless.
The project is designed to become a reference place for the community of Baghere village. The
pavilion aims to be a new meeting point for the local women, a place to host meetings,
workshops and other useful activities to reduce all forms of discrimination, and with the aim
of promoting gender equality.
The guideline of the project has been the modularity. The design starts from a square grid of
1.80 meters side, using proportional geometric ratios, to reach at a rectangular planimetric
configuration of 23x18 m.
With this modular design has been possible to meet the needs of flexibility and adaptability.
The construction system allows a variety of spatial configurations and activities that mix areas
with different degrees of privacy and relationship between internal and external. The
building, located on a base of 45 cm, consists of two pavilions with a central courtyard.
The North-East pavilion, the largest, consists of an open space used for collective functions
(108 m2): awareness-raising activities, seminars, workshops, and exhibitions. The South-West
Pavilion consists of two spaces: one dedicated to the management and organization (22 m2),
and another used to hold meetings with a capacity of about 15 people (40 m2).
The central courtyard, as in the Roman domus, is the heart of the system, a protected place of
socialization and recollection. Inside there is a water basin that takes on a dual purpose: a
socialization space and a collection space of rainwater.
The facades are defined by a massive closed and protected structure, while inside the pavilion
is made up a framed structure formed by pillars with a pitch of 1.80 meters. The flexible and
dynamic building can adapt to any situation, thanks to fixtures with different openings that
give the possibility to create a single space with the courtyard.
The south-east facade of the pavilion has a blind front with an entrance placed in the center;
the south-west facade, where the main entrance is located, has a series of square windows of
different proportions such as the north-east facade, that create a play of shadows; the northwest
facade is characterized by the presence of wooden slats arranged vertically, that to allow
the continuity between interior and exterior.
The interiors are designed to adapt to any changes of the space, so that the furnishings can be
combined to convert to different needs.
From a bioclimatic point of view, the structure has been thought to protect the building
against local climate, given by the displacement between the roof and the walls, to generate a
natural ventilation flow and ensuring a thermal comfort. The cantilevered roofs allow the
control of the sunrays and protect against rain. Furthermore, the windows have been
designed with cantilevered elements and they also favor the recirculation of air. Regarding
climate welfare, the project makes use of thermal inertia principles thanks to the massive wall
and the presence of the rainwater tank, located in the courtyard, that, in contact with the air,
establishes an evaporative cooling process.
2. MATERIALS
The building was designed according to on the principles of eco-sustainability with local
materials like wood, clay, straw, and concrete, to allow a significant cost reduction and ensure
full accessibility to building resources.
The materials chosen have been used to the their best mechanical and textural characteristics,
in order to guarantee safety, visual comfort and thermal efficiency:
the concrete was used in the base, in the form of prefabricated blocks to disconnect the
building from the ground and as a floor finishing; the wood, main character in the project for
its flexibility, strength and comfort, is used in the roof, in the fixtures, and the furnishings; the
ground, compact, massive and resistant, implement all the ancient traditional techniques of
the site. The rammed earth is used for the construction of the external walls, and the clay for
plaster; straw, light and compact vegetable fiber, has been chosen as internal finishing
element of the roofing surface, to protect against the irradiation transmitted by the sheet
metal corrugated. As well, to protect the building from the weather.
3. CONSTRUCTION
The building is designed to be easily assembled with simple construction techniques that do
not require specialized workers.
The construction process begins with the implementation of a base of 45cm, with a mesh in
prefabricated concrete blocks (30x20x15 cm), filled from the ground against moisture. Upon
it will be built the walls made by blocks in rammed earth (30x20x15 cm) and refined by red
clay.
Once the masonry has been built, the pillars and wooden beams are assembled. Each pillar
with a rhythm of 180 cm is composed of four pillars (5x8x400 cm) flanked and anchored to a
metal support that separates them from the ground.
The structure of the roof is connected on top of the pillars and to the walls by wooden
brackets. A lattice composed of two couples of main beams on two different levels (3x25 cm
section) suitably jointed and connected by vertical rods placed on a constant cadence (5x8 cm
section).
These elements are constrained together by secondary beams (5x8x400 cm), placed above the
main beams.
A thick layer of straw (25 cm) and sheet metal corrugated panels (200x120 cm) complete the
roof.
The last step is the realization of the doors with a system of horizontal wooden strips.