Design intentions
A school in the desert for nomad children? Exactly, because there is no public education for them. An idea of Tuareg parents north of Timbuktu inspired AmiMali e.V. to build a school appropriate to this region at the edge of the desert: a basic adobe structure, plus a wooden construction for better ventilation, covered by a roof made of impregnated wool. ps: scarab is a holy beetle. pps: an annex is in construction.

Technical data
The Scarab School in the desert combines two traditions: the local one of the city of Timbuktu which is adobe and the moving one of the Tuareg nomads from the Southern Sahara which is the tent. This combination of the two cultures is simple and real but in reality there is . . . Besides the construction itself the working method was exceptional and should be mentioned in a project of sustainability. Sustainable mostly means something which has grown – the project of the Scarab School has grown within two continents. The locals as well as the Germans were included equally in every single step of the process of design and construction. Due to the electronic communication we had to express ourselves precisely and talk it over on the phone. We had to accept this way of communication since we could not fly over to meet.

Project team
design by ar2com financed by www.AmiMali.de (a non-profit organisation still looking for donations)