Grupo Sofonias

Rural School Constructionin Southern Nicaragua

SKAT/RAS CASE STUDY SERIES DOSSIER: EDUCATIONAL FACILITIES EF2, 2000

PROJECT INFORMATION

Front Page:Carlos Miranda Blanco,built in 1989 with quarrystones and brick vaults.

Background image:The local team developedtheir own “colonial style”,to the delight of thevillagers.

Above:A rural school revisited tenyears later (1998)

Left:A Cuban teacher and herclass under an improvisedroof.

The Country Context ArchitectureObjectives

Nicaragua is one ofthe five countries ofCentral America,located in thetropical area of theNorthern Hemisphere,the climate of itssouthern area beinghot humid. It coverssome 130,000km2 andhas a population ofabout 4.5 million. Itshistory is that of atypical “BananaRepublic”: foreignintervention, localand regional wars,coups d’état.

After the civil war in1979, the newlyinstalled governmentgave educationabsolute priority. In

a country where thevast rural areas hadlittle or noinfrastructure, thiswas a gigantic task.Newly recruitedteachers withrudimentary trainingand hundreds ofwell-prepared Cubanteachers started thetask of educating therural population, inmakeshift shackserected by thepopulation and evenunder the shade oftrees.

The Ministry ofEducation askedGrupo Sofonias, asmall internationalNGO, to assist in the

construction ofschools. Swissaid, aSwiss NGO, wasapproached forfinancing andbetween 1980 and1991, 380 classroomswere built in some120 villages and theirneighbourhood.

Nicaragua hassuffered manychanges over thecenturies and thereis no clearly definedcultural identity inthe field ofarchitecture. Whiletraditional dwellingsin the south arerather simplewooden structures,the modern

influences from theUS have focusedupon the use ofcement for walls andtin sheets for roofs.Among the rural andsemi-urban dwellers,there is little desirefor architecturalexpression.

However, peoplegenerally like thecolonial structureswith arches, tilesand verandas andconsider them as theindigenousarchitecture. Thus,the project team feltthat this was areasonable point ofdeparture for a ruralschool construction

BUILDING CONSTRUCTION

Background:Adequate facilities makechildren and teachers smile

Left top:Building colonial façades in1985

Left bottom:Cut quarrystones are thelocally available material inCarazo

Below:Fibre concrete sheets wereproduced on site and laterreplaced by MCR tiles

Appropriate Technology ReviewIndividual Adjustment

project, whichshould placeemphasis on the useof local materials andeasy replication.

The main task wasto use local materialsand technologies andnot to depend uponimports. Manyvillages had noaccess by road andeach one had to beassessed separatelywith respect to thedesign and thechoice of locallyavailable materialsand technologies.Mainly in the firstproject phase, noschool was madeidentical to the

other. Most of thetime walls weremade with stonesand lime-cementmortar or locallyburnt brick roofswith locally burntclay tiles or hand-made fibre-concretesheets, one of theearly strengths of theproject.

After the homemadefibre-concrete sheetsproved to be a failure(some sheets crackedafter one or twoyears on the roof),the project turnedtowards micro-concrete tiles orvaults made withfired clay bricks. The

vaults allowedelegant and low costconstructions.However, thecommunities wouldhave liked more“decorated”buildings. Bybuilding a front wallin face bricks withpillars and arches,the schools acquireda higher statusamong the villagers.Even the leadingarchitect felt it wasthe right thing to do,though it certainlyviolatescontemporaryarchitectonicbeliefs…

This case study has

been elaborated morethan ten years afterthe project finishedand almost 20 yearsafter its start. Mostof the buildings arestill in use and wellkept. Many havebeen renovated,mainly the earlyones. Sometimesnew buildings havebeen added to theschool, invariablyplanned and built byinternational aidprogrammes usingthe same standardand the sameindustrial materialsall over the countryand not taking intoaccount communityparticipation.

Publication by:

SKATVadianstr. 429000 St. Gallen, Switzerlandhttp://www.skat.chemail: info@skat.ch

Grupo SofoniasApdo 88Jinotepe, Nicaraguaemail: sofonias@ibw.com.ni

Published by:SKATDaniel Schwitterhttp://www.skat.chemail: daniel.schwitter@skat.ch

B U I L D I N G     P A R T N E R S H I P S

This CASE STUDY SERIES is a collection on intelligentarchitecture and best practices of cost and economical buildingsystems, taking into consideration traditional and socio-culturalaspects as well as the requirements of modern way of life.The CASE STUDY SERIES comprises three dossiers Housing,Health Facilities and Educational Facilities.

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PROJECT SCOPE

Legend:

BUILDING COSTS

FUNCTION School buildings for basic educationLOCATION Southern NicaraguaPROMOTER Ministry of Education, NicaraguaARCHITECTS Kurt Rhyner / Emiliano Armira / Marcelino CastroPROJECT IMPLEMENTATION Grupo SofoniasYEARS OF CONSTRUCTION 1980 - 1990

Primary Schools 120No. of classrooms 380Total built area 24’000 m2

No. of children attended 12’000

External contribution US$ 2’200’000.— (67%)Community contribution US$ 1’100’000.— (33%)Total cost US$ 3’300’000.— (100%)Average construction cost per m2 US$ 137.—

1 Brick vault2 ventilation blocks3 reinforced concrete beam4 bricks or stone5 reinforced concrete beam6 concrete floor7 foundation

Integration of the communitiesTo achieve true integration of the communities, constructions mustbe tailored to the possibilities and needs of the community.However, their perceived needs were often different and, in somecases, the approach did not work well.

Fight against illiteracyThe political programme of the Sandinista revolution greatlyenhanced the natural drive of Latin Americans to strive foreducation. A nation-wide literacy campaign reducing illiteracy fromover 60% to 13% in only 6 months created unprecedentedenthusiasm for education. Cuba deployed several hundred teacherswho worked in the rural areas, where never before a school hadexisted. During the first years, they played a decisive role in theorganisation of the project and some of them organised stonecollections with the children during playtime or their sports lessons(see picture).

Standard designsToo rigid standard designs to be implemented all over the country,with the same materials, often transported over hundreds ofkilometres, are a threat to local cultures and jeopardize the use oflocal materials and initiatives.

Neither national governments nor international donor agenciesusually take into account the local context when planning schoolprogrammes.

TechnologyRoofing was the most controversial of the technical issues. After thefailure of the fibre cement sheets, a solid roof was needed to giveback confidence to the communities. Vaults made with burnt bricksprovide a strong and lasting roof and are relatively easy to constructover moving shutters. However, rather than rendering them withlime/cement mortar, the communities did it with pure cement, whichinevitably leads to cracks and leaking. Most communities acceptedthe lesson learnt; however, in some places they re-plastered thevaults with cement mortar, and keep having infiltrations. Lime beingrated as “not good enough” and substituted by cement inrenderings is a common problem in many countries.

MaintenanceMost communities try hard to maintain the buildings, even after tenyears and more, but suffer from the lack of financial means whichare much more restricted than ever before.

Learnings