Architecture Asia Special Issue - ARCASIA Awards for Architecture 2020

Initiated and crowd funded by IX Architects Private Ltd., and
based on a belief in the power of education, Project Books
and Cubes is a learning space that nestles unobtrusively within
a primary school campus in a rural village in Siem Reap. It
is a pro bono initiative conceptualized and designed for the
children of rural Cambodia. With the creation of this learning
space, underprivileged communities will be empowered
through education. Though small in scale, it is an incubator of
big dreams for the children living in the project area. Students
can use this library in all weather conditions, even during power
outages. Despite its pure cube form, the library embraces
the entire site and complements other school activities.
The design concept was to create an engaging library for
children. The three cubes that form the library are movable according
to users’ needs. When they are locked together, they
present a linear library in the form of a shipping container; when
pulled apart, the library instantly transforms into a multi-purpose
space, providing opportunities for teachers to conduct lessons in
the embrace of nature and promoting the arts through staged
performances. Moreover, being easily replicable, the design introduces
a new typology using locally available rattan material that
can benefit many remote communities in the rural tropics.
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