NLÉ-Kunlé Adeyemi’s Makoko School collapsed on Tuesday after a heavy rainfall that took over most part of the Lagos including Makoko, a slum and highly populated part of the state, according to local sources, NAIJ. The floating school designed by NLÉ-Kunlé Adeyemi in Nigeria, sitting on the 256 plastic drums and powered by solar panels suspended on the roof. 

The project was developed for Lagos water communities, who are the poor residents of the area. Ater its completion in 2012, the three-storey building constructions were halted by the Lagos state government in 2013 due to some structural issues, according to NAIJ news. 

Image courtesy of NAIJ

The floating school was jointly built by the residents of Makoko/Iwaya Waterfront community in Yaba council area, United Nation Development Programme (UNDP) and a private firm -NLE works, Nigeria.

Image courtesy of NAIJ

''So as far as that floating school is concerned, it was erected without the permission of the state government. ''The simple answer to the floating school is that it is an illegal structure and it shouldn’t be there.''

Image courtesy of NAIJ

''The floating school has been illegal since inception. The owner of the floating school waited until there was a legal issue in the area before he commenced the construction of the school'' Prince Adesegun Oniru had said, commissioner for waterfront and infrastructure development in the state.

Image © Jacopo Salvi, courtesy of Venice Biennale

NLÉ, Kunlé Adeyemi's second version of their work is exhibited at the Arsenale, Venice Architecture Biennale. The project was awarded with Silver Lion by the international jury and the jury praised it 'for a powerful demonstration, be it in Lagos or in Venice, that architecture, at once iconic and pragmatic, can amplify the importance of education.'

Top image © Iwan Baan

> via NAIJ