Quarry Schools

Building Community Classrooms in Stone Quarry Worker Settlements in Navi Mumbai, India

Abstract

This field report describes the successful collaboration of UK architecture students, the Indian non-governmental organization (NGO) ARPHEN, and local families in the construction of two community classrooms to provide a bridge into state education for the marginalized children of stone quarry workers in Navi Mumbai. The report examines the role of the architectural students as designers, makers and curators, as well as their relationship with the NGO and local residents. Lessons learned from the project might be applied in other situations of rapid change and scarce resources where architects, NGOs and the local population might collaborate to provide shared infrastructure and community facilities.