PROJECT DESCRIPTION:
The benefits of education alone are not the only issues facing the youth of Nairobi today. Access to proper infrastructure can open this city up to the world – outside of the Central Business District. Solutions should clearly stretch into the remainder of the city. By implementing packed earth and dirt for insulation from the site itself to gain a topography (creating mud walls) AND through reclaiming other common materials (galvanized metals, reused timber), a structure can become inexpensive enough to support the educational initiative of SIDAREC and give hope for the promise of tomorrow. Outside of materials common to the area, the solution seeks to implement a Living Machine directly under the facility’s main restroom to reconstitute the waste and educate the visitors of the library. This level below grade (located through digging) will allow building up while using gravity to accommodate the Living Machine. Access to proper sewage facilities and clean water are problematic, this necessitating a solution for both. The facility is oriented so that, should photovoltaic cells become inexpensive, a future implementation will be possible on the building roof AND the newly formed topography. In an area of great urban density, this building can serve the needs of a community – today and tomorrow – as a model for similar areas.
