La Sapienza - Università di Roma

SAMBOU TOURA DRAME | SENEGAL ELEMENTARY SCHOOL

International Competition Archstorming and Let’s Build My School 2020

M. Argenti, A. B. Menghini, C. Lebboroni, F. Sarno

The project for the Sambou Toura Drame school is inspired by the fairytale of the yellow snake Dinkidanko, set in the Casamance forest, a region of Senegal where Marsassoum is located. The brave warriors, thanks to the "truth", help the sick snake and save their village: the "truth", i.e. the knowledge, is therefore the tool to overcome adversity. Starting from the fairytale imaginary, the architectural choice consists of a volumetric system that, wrapping around itself, delimits the large patio enriched by an existing tree, in order to provide the small student community with environments suitable for learning, playing and meeting. The volume, unified by a variously inclined roof, is composed of 7 classrooms, an orchard and the library (head of the snake), which can serve as a canteen. This composition symbolizes the knowledge transmission, the earth care, the culture sharing and the convivial activities. The sustainability of the proposal can be explained through some key words.
- Planning
- Flexibility
- Wellness
- Environment
- Construction

KAIRA LOORO | ARCHITECTURE FOR PEACE

International Competition for Emergency Operations Center 2020

M. Argenti, A. B. Menghini, C. Lebboroni, M. Percoco, F. Piacenti

The project consists of a logistic, spatial and construction model of EOC (Emergency Operations Center), a prototype developed for the purpose of prevention and management of emergencies in Sub-Saharan Africa, supporting international humanitarian organizations, with particular attention to health emergencies. The aim is to design a network-based system, a sort of “infra-structure” operating on a territorial scale, with planned development, composed of main poles located in densely populated urban and suburban areas and small rural villages. This system is an aggregation of complex architectural elements – sustainable from an environmental point of view – to be implemented during 'peacetime' before emergencies occur. The model consists of modular invariants which can be aggregated, modified and adapted to different situations:

- declinable according to the different geographical, climatic, settling conditions (rural villages, suburban and urban areas), cultural distinctions and economic resources of the places (available materials and consolidated building techniques);

- adaptable with few steps and adjustable over different times (before, during and after the emergency), mostly thanks the space flexibility designed at the time of drafting the project (possibility to close covered areas, to enlarge some parts, to host special technological equipment, etc.).