Kaleidoscopio

The Kaleidoscope

Expanding the Scope of Schools.
While on the one hand the mainstream school plays a well defined role in society, preparing students to enter
college, to earn a living and contribute to the economy, there are educators in many pockets who have
challenged this understanding of education. Over the last few centuries many teacher/philosophers have
insisted that schools arenot cogs in the economic structure. Schools do not exist to train the work force,
bolster existing social institutions, create tractable citizens and maintain the divides in society. Their very
purpose is to challenge the status quo, create divergent thinkers, inspire change and transform lives and
hence society.
By creating a learning space like Kaleidoscope we are living up to Gandhiji'sdirection to 'BE the change' we
want to see in the world. Not only is the earth bag and bamboo structure lower in cost, kinder to the earth,
aesthetically satisfying, cool and comfortable , but it is also a dynamic learning space. It lives the message of
our school Aman Setu, its structure facilitating equal opportunity to participate.
Kaleidoscope has just the right nurturing energy, suitable fora learning space. We invite you to come and
experience it.
I am proud to announce that the design and execution were initiated by my student
Sourabh Phadke and his friend Pooja Joshi. We got the cooperation and full
participation of local people without whose wisdom we would have been quite lost.
Anna our 'Man of infinite resourcefulness' deserves a special mention and special
thanks here.We are now poised to share our learning experience on the web and will be happy to
answer questions and support anyone who wants to create something on similar lines.
anna

MADHAVI KAPUR

ENTRANCE

2

1

PROPOSED

POND

4

ENTRANCE 2

The earthbags are discarded cement sacks
bought at 80 paise per bag. The infill material
consists of earth dumped at adjacent constructionLANGUAGE CENTRE

sites. Even thestone and grit were bought froma

KALEIDOSCOPE

neighbouring quarry. Discarded pieces of

PVC

pipes were used tocreate openings in the earthbag
walls. The roofing system is designedentirely in
bamboo.

SCIENCE
CHILDRENS PLAY AREA

PARKING

CENTRE

F

N

thatch overhang

DETAIL PLAN

D

C6

SITEPLAN

campus at Wagholi.

wasdesigned in order to keep the materialistic embodied energy and hence
the carbon footprint low. All materials were procured from the same locality
with a conscious effort to reuse discarded material.
C

C
C4

+100

00

[2
']

3041 [10'-2"]

6

playful space which wouldn't define any child's imagination. The Kaleidoscope

sand, dust and a small amount (5 percent) of cement. These aretamped

C3

C1

step

The Kaleidoscope is a simple composition in bamboo and earthbags.
Earthbags are discarded cement bags filled with a wet mix of earth,

2675 [8'-11"]

C8

1259 [4'-2"]

children varying from ages 3 to 8. Thus this 'unstructure' was designed as a

D

4375 [14'-7"]

This structure is meant to host activities such as arts, crafts and music for

B

C23367 [11'-3"]

E

C5

+300

4667 [15'-7"]

aleidoscope is the creative expressions center on the Aman Setu school

C7

0,0 ground level
step

to attain a shape suitable for construction. The bags are then laid in
A

courses as per conventional masonry techniques. Between each course
of earthbags we have two strands of barbed wire which maintain fixity.

3000 [10']

K5600 [18'-8"]

N

A
6026 [20'-1"]

1

4667 [15'-7"]

2

1400 [4'-8"]

3

4

SITE PREPARATION.....

1. Initial picture of the site.
The area was cleared of impediments such as grass
and stones to provide a clean surface. The existing
bungalow can be seen behind. The light pole visible on
the left was removed later.
2. Line out:

Area to be excavated was marked on site...