When you think of the world’s best building, do you imagine something architecturally innovative in one of the world’s major cities? If so, you may be surprised to learn that a remote Brazilian school made out of timber and mud-brick is the winner of this year’s Royal Institute of British Architects’ (RIBA) award for the best building in the world.
A remote school in a far-flung area of Brazil has been named the world’s best building. Image: Leonardo Finotti/Rosenbaum Arquitetura
The Children Village is located on the edge of the Amazon in northern Brazil and was designed by young architects, Aleph Zero, with designer Marcelo Rosenbaum. The architectural duo, Gustavo Utrabo and Pedro Duschenes, are in their early 30s and had only built a few private houses and installations before landing this commission.
Children Village is the Canuanã school’s boarding facility. Image: Leonardo Finotti/Rosenbaum Arquitetura
Children Village is the Canuanã school’s boarding facility and replaces the former accommodation, where 540 students sometimes slept 40 to a room. Eucalyptus columns extend inside the expansive dormitory complex, and the children now sleep in wooden bunk beds in rooms for six people. Prior to designing the complex, the architects met with some of the teenagers in advance to understand how they wanted to live together.
Eucalyptus columns extend inside the expansive dormitory complex. Image: Leonardo Finotti/Rosenbaum Arquitetura
As a result, there are two identical buildings for each gender, and the mud-brick rooms are arranged around open landscaped courtyards. A thin metal canopy floats above the buildings, providing shade in the heat so air-conditioning isn’t needed, and the walls are perforated and breathable, allowing natural cross-ventilation. The bedrooms are connected by an upper level of wooden walkways and play areas, and there are reading spaces, balconies and hammocks, helping the students to connect with their home and school.
The bedrooms are connected by an upper level of wooden walkways and play areas. Image: Leonardo Finotti/Rosenbaum Arquitetura
The school was originally built in the 1970s by the Bradesco Foundation, the charitable arm of one of Brazil’s largest banks. It serves children from the remote agricultural region around the municipality of Formoso do Araguaia. The isolation made construction a challenge, as it meant that only light materials could be brought to the site, and the heavier materials came from the area itself.
The school serves children from the remote agricultural region around Formoso do Araguaia. Image: Leonardo Finotti/Rosenbaum Arquitetura
The project is the second recipient of RIBA’s biennial international prize, which is awarded every two years to a building that exemplifies design excellence and architectural ambition and delivers meaningful social impact. It is one of the world’s most rigorously judged architecture awards, and a jury visited a long-list of 30 buildings around the world before a “grand jury” visited the shortlist of four finalists to decide on the overall winner.
The project is the second recipient of the RIBA’s biennial international prize. Image: Leonardo Finotti/Rosenbaum Arquitetura
For further information on the award, please see here.
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