Anandaloy – Anna Heringer
The Anandaloy Building hosts a center for people with disabilities combined with a small studio for the production of fair textiles (Dipdii Textiles). For Studio Anna Heringer, architecture is a tool to improve lives. The strategy of all of the projects no matter if in European, Asian or African context is the use of local materials + local sources of energy (including manual labor) + global know-how. Because the Anandaloy project is mainly built out of mud and bamboo from local farmers, the biggest part of the budget was invested in local crafts(wo)men. Thus, the building is much more than just a structure, it became a real catalyst for local development.
This project is the accumulation of the learning process of all the five previous projects in Rudrapur, including METI School. Unlike the other projects that were under German supervision, the site was managed by the Bangladeshi contractor, Montu Ram Shaw, and the team of mud and bamboo workers from the village, including some persons with disabilities. As for Studio Anna Heringer know-how transfer is key, this project is great proof that the knowledge is now really rooted.
The building`s architecture explores the plastic abilities of mud in order to create a stronger identity. Mud is regarded as poor and old-fashioned material and inferior to brick for example. But to us, Studio Anna Heringer, it doesn’t matter how old the material is, it is a matter of our creative ability to use it in a contemporary way. To show the beauty and capacity of mud, it is needed to bring out the best of it and not just to treat it as a cheaper version of brick.
With that particular mud technique, called cob, no formwork is needed and curves are just as easy to be done than straight walls. Unlike the other buildings in that area that are erected in a rectangular layout, the Anandaloy Building breaks out of the mold. It dances in curves, the ramp winds playfully around its inner structure. On a symbolic level the building signals: it is great that we human beings are all different. With its joyful curves, it radiates the message: diversity is wonderful!
