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A European approach to an African problem: Aberdeen Students Host Live Web-based Workshop across Europe

A group of students at the Scott Sutherland School of Architecture and Built Environment (SSS), Aberdeen, coordinated a one-day workshop to design a facility for women in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Taking place on Friday 1 April and titled 'Build Our Nation', the unique workshop was carried out via the web with students in three European architecture schools simultaneously.

The workshop represents the first part of the 'Taifa letu Tujenge' project - meaning `Build our Nation` in Swahili - which aims to design and build a multipurpose centre for women. It is hoped such a centre will help improve the socioeconomic conditions of women and girls in the city of Bukavu in the province of South Kivu in eastern in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).

Students from Robert Gordon University's humanitarian architecture society - Tesseract -helped organise the one-day workshop alongside staff at SSS. On the day, 80 students from years one to five within the school mixed together in teams to design their own solutions. The mixing of age groups was intended to encourage a cross-pollination of ideas.

At the same time in Italy and Spain, students from architecture schools in Barcelona (65 students), Reus (40 students) and Milan (50 students) participated in the workshop. They updated their progress throughout the day via the web by posting regular blogs, photographs and films.

The day was split into sections including: brainstorming sessions; live video conferences streamed online focusing on actual case studies of humanitarian architecture carried out by the schools themselves; discussions of the student poster designs within their respective schools; and finally a live inter-school discussion online.

The brief for the workshop was devised in reaction to the real-world situation in the DRC. David Fleck, co-founder of the Tesseract collective explains:

"Despite the country being recently released from a 32 year dictatorship under Mobutu Sese Seko, justice and human rights remain major issues within the state of South Kivu. Many women and children continue to suffer from sexual violence and live in constant fear and isolation. They are often forced to socialise in households and small inconspicuous gatherings, if at all."

Multiple student teams within each school devised their own unique solutions

including:

• A centre that is built by the community itself that utilises the

surrounding landscape and natural resources to best advantage. (Devised by Milan

students)

• A gated structure that encourages communal living while also providing a

safe haven. The walls could be built of any local material such as as clay or straw or left open. The women in the community could participate in the building process. (Aberdeen students)

• A platform built high off the ground amongst trees that would allow the

inhabitants to avoid the damp of the equatorial climate of DRC. (Reus students)

• A building based around an umbrella-like structure that collects rainwater

into a tank located in the middle of the building. The structure would also be the main point of meeting within the building. (Barcelona students)

The Tesseract students helped coordinate the one-day workshop with the input of their tutor, Silvia Bassanese. She devised the initial idea following a series of exchanges with Pascal Nshombo Kataraka (who now works in the Universite Catholique de Bukavu, DRC) when both were studying and working in Rome in 2007.

She said: "It was fantastic to see this workshop take off. Pascal and I are delighted to be able to harness the students' creativity and to involve them in making this multipurpose centre a reality. Additionally, demonstrating an understanding of issues in developing countries dovetails with future curriculum expectations as set out by the Royal Institute of British Architects."

Moving forward, three selected groups in each University will progress their projects. They will keep sharing ideas on the project blog until only one project and group will be selected to participate in a future international workshop at the beginning of June at Politecnico of Milan (a partner organisation of the project).

Members of the public can see a record of the workshop, and view the future progression of the student's design solutions by visiting the project blog on www.buildournation.tumblr.com.