METI Handmade School
The METI Handmade School, a primary school for 168 students located in Rudrapur in Dinajpur district of Bangladesh, was built with the assistance of local craftsmen making use of traditional materials, primarily mud and bamboo. An example of sustainable architecture, the project received the Aga Khan Award for Architecture in 2007 for its simple, humane approach and beauty, and for the level of cooperation achieved between architects, craftsmen, clients and users. Background In 1997, Anna Heringer from Bavaria in southern Germany, visited Bangladesh to work as a volunteer with the Bangladeshi NGO, Dipshikha, which assists marginalized communities in areas such as education, agriculture and skills development. While studying architecture in Linz, Austria, she returned to Rudrapur with three other students. As part of their university research, they made a proposal under Dipshikha's programme for Modern Education and Training (METI). In 2004, after graduating with a thesis titled "School: handmade in Bangladesh", Anna Heringer again visited the village, maintaining the contacts she had enjoyed over the years. Unable to find suitable local expertise, Paul Cherwatigga of Dipshikha appointed her as architect for a project to build new classrooms for the village school with a mandate to make use of local materials.