METI Handmade School – design from

tradition
1

Building with earth is often seen as backward and primitive in developing countries. And yet
earth buildings are cheaper and in many ways more sustainable than energy-intensive
concrete or brick buildings, and the problems associated with earth buildings can be solved
with the help of modern science and technology. One project that clearly shows this is the
METI Handmade School in the village of Rudrapur in Bangladesh. The school was
designed by architects Anna Heringer and Eike Roswag and built together with the local
villagers. This project took the locally available materials and techniques, and by improving
them and using them in a new way, it created a new interest in earth building while
benefitting the local people.

A view of
METI Handmade School in Rudrapur in northwest Bangladesh.
The school is run by a local NGO called Dipshikha that has several education programs
aimed at people in different stages of their lives. Although METI Handmade School is the
more famous one, the Dipshikha campus in Rudrapur actually has also another earth
school, called DESI, that is part of the same project and was built three years later. While
METI is a primary school, DESI is a school for teaching technical skills to older students and
some teachers also live there. The school also has a garden where students grow plants
and food.
 A
view of DESI school, located on the same rural campus as METI.
Evolution of traditional materials
Earth is one of the most easily accessible building materials and people have developed
many different ways of building with earth. Because it’s a naturally available material, earth
has a much smaller carbon footprint than concrete and it also produces no waste once
demolished. In this project cob – a mixture of earth, clay, straw and water – was used and it
was applied in layers, letting each layer dry before applying the next layer. The resulting
earth walls of METI and DESI schools are thicker and heavier than traditional earth houses
in Bangladesh, which means the walls have a larger thermal mass. Thermal mass is very
good at regulating indoor temperatures and keeping a more stable indoor temperature as
outdoor temperatures fluctuate during the day.

One of the main problems with earth buildings is that earth structures erode over time and
the traditional earth buildings found in Bangladesh are far from optimal in this case. Mixing
straw with the earth, as was done in this project, makes the material more stable and
durable and slows down the erosion. In DESI school there also pieces of bamboo sticking
out from the walls and these slow down rainwater runoff and the subsequent erosion. Unlike
the traditional earth houses, the schools also have a masonry foundation that adds stability,
and there is a locally available plastic moisture barrier between the bricks and the earth
walls, which protects the walls from moisture from the ground and further increases the
lifespan of the building.
 Bamb
oo is used to slow down erosion of the earth walls of DESI school.
Traditional earth houses have roofs made of straw, and in tropical climates this straw keeps
heat out of the house by insulating the roof – the part most exposed to sun – from solar
heat. At the same time, the overhanging roof also shades the walls and windows and door
openings. The straw also lets air flow through it, improving the ventilation. Newer earth
houses often have a roof made of corrugated steel sheeting, which can make the house
unbearably hot if the steel ceiling is left exposed and the roof is not well ventilated.
The dominating roof of this vernacular earth house in Rudrapur provides protection from the
heat of the sun.
In METI Handmade School the roof is made of steel but there are colorful sari fabrics
hanging below the ceiling. These not only change the whole space by adding color and
creating a different feeling, the saris also block the heat from the steel from radiating directly
into the room. There is also a ventilated gap between the steel and the saris, and as the air
in this space heats up, it causes an updraft and ventilates the classroom below.

The classrooms rely on cross-ventilation, and the upper floor in particular is very airy with a
light bamboo construction. These walls have openings with shades made of woven bamboo
and by opening and closing these shades, the amount of air and sun entering the room can
be regulated. When the shades are closed, air still flows in and out through the gaps but
solar heat radiation is mostly blocked. The gaps also let in daylight, and even when most of
the shades are closed there is enough daylight coming into the classroom. This type of
bamboo cover also help filter some of the dust from the outdoor air. One problem with this
openness though is acoustics since the noise from each classroom can easily be heard in
other classrooms and outside.
 An
upper floor classroom of METI Handmade School showing the saris hanging from the
ceiling and the bamboo shades, both of which make the space more pleasant and
comfortable.
The classrooms on the bottom floor have a very different feeling with heavy earth walls.
These classrooms only have a few openings scattered around the walls, and these cannot
be closed, but even they provide enough daylight. The small size of the windows means
that the thickness of the earth wall is enough to shade the openings. The bottom floor is
used by the younger students and the classrooms include playful “caves” inside the earth
walls. The different classrooms of METI show how flexible earth can be in creating different
type of spaces.
These playful caves in METI Handmade School show how flexible earth can be in creating
different type of spaces.
Improving rural life through architecture
The METI Handmade School project produced more than just a building, and the
involvement and education of the local people was an important part of the process. Almost
all the work was done by local unskilled labour who thus learned new skills in the process.
The students also took part in the construction and they are also responsible for cleaning
and maintaining the buildings. The architects also did a housing project with the community,
showing how they can improve their own earth houses.

Since DESI was designed for teachers to live in, the building has a higher status than METI
and this meant more money could be used for the project. Instead of using the extra money
for more expensive materials, the extra money went into detailing and craftsmanship. A part
of the bamboo facade has a pattern made with local weaving techniques and this meant
that the extra money went directly to the local people instead of industries. The increased
use of industrialized products such as plastic means that the local craftsmen have less and
less work, but this project gave them new ideas for how they can use their skills.
Interior of DESI School where the skills of the local craftsmen were used for creating
decorative bamboo walls.
Overall, the way earth and bamboo have been used in these two schools is professional
and sophisticated, which is important for raising the status of these materials. Traditional
earth buildings in Bangladesh only have one floor, but METI and DESI schools show that
earth can be used to build multi-story buildings as well. This is particularly important in
Bangladesh as it is one of the most densely populated countries in the world, and there is a
need for buildings to expand vertically in order to leave more land available for agriculture,
especially during uncertain times of climate change. In fact, lack of arable land is forcing a
lot of people in Bangladesh to migrate into urban areas which is creating an enormous
pressure on the cities. What this project shows is that by taking traditional techniques and
skills and using them in a new way, it is possible to build more sustainable rural
communities.