Can a school be more than a school? Taking on this question as a point of departure, the project for a teaching and learning facility in Ruteng on the island of Flores, Indonesia offers an alternative to the town’s existing temporary school barrack as well as the state’s current educational curriculum, proposing instead a school as hub for multiple activities – as community gathering space, as visitor center, as testing ground for local construction materials, as vocational training facility, and so forth. Based on an analysis of what the authors call “the town’s potentialities”, the proposal unfolds as an exploration of potential future opportunities translated in an architectural ensemble of discreet buildings that can evolve in time and as need may require.

The jury commended the young architect’s ethical posture and their courage to engage with existing challenges. Problems are perceived as opportunities to not only create a school but a center strongly connected to the community at large. The proposed structures explore local materials and assembly techniques, developed by both students and teachers to create a campus as hub able to contribute to the town’s economic long-term livelihood – a project with a clear thesis and a strong conviction that architecture can play a role in community building. The most promising feature of the project, according to the jury, is the promising idea to empower local craftsmen, through education and vocational training programs with a focus on sustainable construction and the promotion of local materials.