‘play’ school, Moshi, Tanzania

competition | 2020

A place where the child is not scared to come, 

learning is more than books, and it is a part of life, 

the room is filled with laughter and joy, 

where friends become family. 

A place where the teachers are not meant to teach but help one grow, 

into a child who is ready for the world to come.  

Learning through playing, running around, sharing,  

crying, expressing, creating, observing, falling, failing 

but still standing strong. 

This is the ‘play’ at school in Moshi. 

The playschool in Moshi, Tanzania, is designed to be a space where the children are free to be, where built proves as a hidden tool to learn that helps as effectively as the structure devised for learning. Helping kids explore and discover themselves by triggering learning through play, visual, auditory and kinesthetic learning methods.  

The staggered closed modular spaces are built using compressed stabilized earth blocks and a wooden structure holding up the undulating repetitive roof. The floating roof allows for light and air to flow through the closed spaces, making the building comfortable through the seasons. Blurring the edge between the in and out, the door and windows are designed to be adjustable, making the space flexible and dynamic.

The independent volumes alternate between a series of open and closed spaces providing a dynamic array of volumes to be in. It opens up and creates possibilities rather than restricting it to the bounds of the four-walled rooms. The school provides a space to be connected to the ephemeral nature of the surroundings, blending and continuing the greens inside. The conception of the voids within the closed spaces, allows the facade to be open to the elements and extend outside. Moving away from the mundane inward-looking classroom to a happier open plan allows space to be adapted by the kids to their needs. 

The textural and spatial quality is used as a catalyst to promote learning through the school. The use of colour in moderation against the brown backdrop helps brighten the otherwise mundane building and stimulate a child’s brain while still contextualizing the space. Use of the built to promote play reduces the dependency on games and toys and provides a robust solution for play.  

Simple, low-technology and locally-sourced design solutions, coupled with a coherent process to create a space that incorporates the element of play within the built. Play is a key element in realizing the possibility of the project and easing the process of transitioning into the reinterpreted school design suiting the needs of kids.