School Building 
Hariharpur, India, 2013

A participatory design & build project in collaboration with a small rural village in Uttar Pradesh, India. Weekly design workshops engaged the families to bridge caste systems andgender barriers to build a school and sanitation facilities for their own children.

Located in Hariharpur, a small village in rural UttarPradesh known for its unique tradition ofclassical music, this project involved designing and constructing a school in collaboration with the Indian Trust for Rural Heritage and Development (ITRHD). The organization has been working to protect and promote the village’s cultural heritage by providing essential infrastructure, including health, education, and sanitation. Together with schoolteachers, parents, local artisans, and craftspeople, the project was an opportunity to learn from vernacular buildingmethods, reinterpreting and evolving them to meet contemporary needs and aspirations. Workshops brought together parents from different castes to collectively contribute to the village’s future. Teachers were trained in the participatory process, and the workshops became a tool for them to engage with families throughout the village. Every step of the research, design and building process was used to trigger small positive change to builda strong sense of collaboration, ownership and pride within the community.

Team: ALeika Aruga, Alexander Eriksson Furunes,
Clem Blakemore, Kritika Danda & IvarTutturen
Partner: Families of Cha Cha Nehru School
Client: Indian Trust for Rural Heritage and Development