Can you imagine children learning in the middle of the Thar Desert in a daytime temperature of up to 50 degrees Celsius? The school is located in the village of Kanoy, an architectural marvel just six minutes away from the famous Sand Dunes in Jaisalmer. The Rajkumari Ratnavathi Girls' School is built of yellow sandstone and aims to educate and empower girls. Surprisingly, there are no air conditioners here, but the school's manufacturers say that students can study and play at the school without having to worry about the harsh weather.
The school is oval in shape and blends in with the desert landscape. The school area, known as the Gyan Center, will accommodate 400 girls from kindergarten to tenth grade. The complex has a textile museum and a performance hall. There is also an exhibition space for artisans to sell their handicrafts. In another building, women will be trained in traditional arts such as weaving to preserve endangered handicrafts.
Michael Dube, founder of CITTA, a non - profit organization, was behind the construction of the school. It took him ten years to decide what the building would look like and implement it. The school was designed by US-based architect Diana Kellogg.
Diana is visiting India in 2014. "I have never worked outside of New York and it was hard to even imagine building a project in the middle of the desert. But when I visited this place, I saw beautiful buildings, music and art. Even the stairwells here are an architectural marvel. This experience gave me the confidence to be able to do this project," she says.
He did not try to bring any kind of Western ideas or style into it. Instead he met people from nearby villages and talked to them. They also say that through it, the culture of the state can be understood. He chose the oval shape from his earlier drawings. This shape also helped to bridge the gap between different parts of the building. The yard, on the other hand, was familiar with Indian culture. Diana says the oval shape represents women of many cultures, as well as being associated with nearby castles. It is also built to withstand heat. The solar panels on the top of the building provide shade while simultaneously energizing the building. A cooling system is used to cool the building during the day and geothermal energy at night.
