Two Italian Architects Designed and Built 'Inside Out' School in Remote Village in Ghana

• Two Italian architects called, Andrea Tabocchini and Francesca Vittorini, have created and built an 'inside out' school in a rural village in Ghana called Yeboahkrom
• The design project in Yeboahkrom by the two Italian architects has won many international awards and given them global recognition
• The project design for the school came about when strong winds destroyed the only school in the village of Yeboahkrom

Two Italian architects, Andrea Tabocchini and Francesca Vittorini, have made a name for themselves by designing and building a school in a remote village in Ghana called Yeboahkrom. The non-profit design project was built in 60 days with just 12,000 euros with the help of volunteers from 20 different nations and the local populace.

Since there was no power, the school project was constructed by hand using local resources (earth, wood, and plants). In addition, 58,000 kg of dirt were moved by hand, and 3 kilometres of wood were planed with two hand planers.

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The architects adopted a sustainable design approach that combines architecture and landscape due to a lack of resources and site constraints. The native dirt was compacted to create the classrooms' walls.

A thin wood frame raised the roof, enabling light to enter the building and creating natural ventilation. Also, there are more covered areas to study outside because the porch extends into the garden.

The school was built in such a way that the result is a piece of work that blurs the lines between inside and outside. It also provides an alternative to conventional introverted classrooms and suggests a cost-effective and readily repeatable design that respects local expertise while pushing its boundaries.

Andrea Tabocchini and Francesca Vittorini have won awards for their 'inside out' school project. They emerged as 2nd prize winners of the “4th Earth Architecture Competition” and also won the 2017 RTF Sustainability Awards for Pubic Building (Built).

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A young Ghanaian man who was inspired by what the two Italians have accomplished in Ghana disclosed to YEN.com.gh that:

"I would not like to disclose my identity but the intervention of foreigners has been of great help to me and how far I have come in my life. Back in my junior high school, Anloga E.P. Basic School in the Volta Region, I got the chance to use a computer for the first time in my life because a German man sacrificed his time and resources to bring us a few laptops and teach us ICT for free. Now I work with computers for a living. We must create more networks with these foreigners to keep extending their helping hands to deprived schools in particular."

A Design Studio Based in America Proposes Design of an Earth School in Kafountine, Senegal

In an earlier article, YEN.com.gh wrote about how an American design studio proposed the design of an earth school in Senegal. The Jeanne Schultz Design Studio has suggested creating a school in Senegal using only natural resources.

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The secondary school's mission is to establish a setting that fosters students' academic and creative freedom.

Source: YEN.com.gh