El Jicarito School from Gonzalo J. Lopez on Vimeo.
“EL JICARITO SCHOOL is an innovative low-cost school design that brings a community together through collaborative construction methods, using local materials, while creating a new educational space that will enhance creativity.
By supporting this project you are helping the nonprofit organization Seeds of Learning bring educational infrastructure to a community in need.
Seeds of Learning has built over 200 classrooms throughout the country using commercial materials such as concrete blocks and steel roofs. These construction methods, however, involve bringing large amounts of industrialized materials and specialized labor off site, often making it unaffordable for the villages.
The floor will be made of poured colored concrete, the walls of earthbags and the columns, beams and foundations will be made out of traditional reinforced concrete and steel frame. The school will be available for community meetings, adult education classes and travelling medical brigades, which will benefit the entire community.
The aim of the project is to explore new construction systems that would facilitate a more participatory and sustainable construction for the area. We chose the earthbag system or hyper adobe, and are developing a design that aims for an interactive and collective space of learning for the whole community.”
Just a quick update. We are offering the architectural design, engineering plans and construction report as perks for this campaign. It’s an $8,000 value for just a fraction of the cost donated to the project for the kids of El Jicarito, Nicaragua!