: Made of Cardboard Bamboo, Bluru School Is Redefining Sustainable Design #IndiaNEWS #Architecture In the post-World War II world, as Italy was trying to pick up the pieces, move past the devastation,

Made of Cardboard Bamboo, Bluru School Is Redefining Sustainable Design #IndiaNEWS #Architecture
In the post-World War II world, as Italy was trying to pick up the pieces, move past the devastation, and start afresh, a pedagogist named Loris Malaguzzi along with parents in the villages around Reggio Emilia, a city, came up with a novel approach that replaced the rigid curriculum of school education, with a flexible one.
This approach was based on respect, responsibility and community through exploration, discovery and play, with the understanding that each child carves their own path of learning with the help of these principles.
This method is today known as the Reggio Emilia approach, and has been adopted by several schools, including Bengaluru-based pre-school — The Atelier — which was constructed by contractor Muralidhar Reddy and, architect Anurag Tamhankar and his team at Biome Environmental Solutions in a span of six months.

The design of the school was heavily inspired by the educational philosophy it was based on — unique, sustainable and celebrating creation, while understanding and adapting to change without destruction.
A School That Seeks To Enhance the Learning Experience
Biome was approached by Rythm Aggarwal, an educator, director and co-founder of The Atelier, for this project in 2016.
“The location of the site was in an area with constant construction activity. It is a rising concrete jungle, and we had to create a learning space for young children there, based on the inclusive learning approach. So we wanted to translate this flexible educational model in a design perspective while also focusing on sustainability,??? begins Anurag.
From the design to the construction materials, the Biome design team only used items which could be easily brought apart, decomposed or upcycled, if required.

“Most buildings in the area are constantly being demolished and remade which puts a huge burden on the environment, making the permanence of a building irrelevant. But, we also chose to move away from that cycle and create a space that was as flexible as its curriculum. So, we built a school that could be easily dismantled and repurposed, instead of being demolished,??? he adds.
Dismantle, Dont Demolish
From the local chappadi granite stone slabs used for building the foundation, paver block flooring, paper tube partition walls to bolted steel roof support and bamboo mat false ceiling, the entire structure of The Atelier can be dismantled to either reuse, upcycle or organically decompose. This feature also allows the school to be easily relocated, if the need arises.
Talking about the design specifications, Anurag explains, “Each of the metal structures are bolted together, so that they can be easily dismantled and put back to its original form for reuse.