An international architecture competition has been launched by the Balouo Salo Non-Profit Organisation to "secure the right to education" in rural areas of Senegal.

Primary School competition is the new edition of the Kaira Looro Competition series which is organized annually.

A selected winning project will be a model of a primary school that can deliver an equal education to rural communities, while raising the level of education for children, securing the right to study, ensuring health and providing the psycho-physical and health conditions necessary to develop each student’s potential.

Primary School competition is open to students and young architects, with the objective of which is to grow up careers of new architectural talent, raise awareness in the international community regarding the topics of emergency, and support humanitarian projects.

Participants can register individually or as teams, with one requirement: Architects, students, designers and engineers from anywhere in the world can participate individually or with a team with at least 1 member under 35.

World Architecture Community is official media partner of the 2023 edition of Kaira Looro Competition and will share the winners of the competition once the competition is closed.

"The right to education is one of the fundamental and inalienable rights of any person, as well as a principle established in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, yet for more than 600 million children worldwide, this right is not guaranteed due to fragile economic, political and health conditions, the presence of conflicts, natural disasters, stereotypes and socio-cultural prejudices," said the Kaira Looro.

"In Sub-Saharan Africa, most schools are not able to offer services that can protect the student, make them feel safe, and foster the development of their potential." 

"Without a quality education, children will not be able to acquire the necessary skills to cope with life’s problems and find useful employment to make them independent, and they will not be able to participate in the decisions that affect them, thus putting their future at risk," added the competition.

Entries will be judged by a jury made up of prominent architects: Kengo Kuma (Kengo Kuma & Associates), Benedetta Tagliabue (EMBT Miralles Tagliabue), Agostino Ghirardelli (SBGA | Blengini Ghirardelli), Manuel Aires Mateus (Aires Mateus Architects), Raul Pantaleo (TAM Associati), Mphethi Morojele (MMA Design Studio), Mphethi Morojele (MMA Design Studio), Emmanuelle Moureaux (Emmanuelle Moureaux Architecture + Design), Saad El Kabbaj, Driss Kettani e Mohamed Amine Siana and an scientific committee made up of Raoul Vecchio (Balouo Salo), Sebastiano D’Urso (University of Catania and other specialist in architecture and humanitarian actions.

Winning facility will not only limited to school courses, but will be able to host cross-curricular activities. The winning design will be an ideal, a place that is not only a school but also a community. 

"Through architecture, shapes and colours, the aim is to create a model that inspires confidence in the students, the community and the authorities. A unique and symbolic, yet simple, place of identity in which every child can find themselves and begin to build their future," said the competition.

Registration will begin tomorrow, on 13rd January 2023 and early registration can be made until 28th February 2023. Late registrations will be open until 15th May 2023. 

Those who wish to take part must submit their entry online via the the Kaira Looro's website. 

Awards will be given to 1st, 2nd, and 3rd places, 2 honourable mentions, 2 special mentions, 20 finalists, and 20 Top 50. 

The winning project will receive a 5.000€ cash prize and an internship at Kengo Kuma & Associates studio in Japan, as well as the construction of the project as humanitarian intervention. 

The other internships will be awarded to the 2nd place team at the EMBT Miralles Tagliabue in Spain and to the 3rd place at the SBGA Blengini Ghiradelli, and respectively 2.000€ and 1.000€. 

Furthermore, all of the projects will be published on the competition’s website and in its official book, transmitted to 30 of the competition’s global media partners, and shared with institutional partners.

According to the Kaira Looro, the project must be conceived as feasible in a process of a humanitarian intervention. 

Since the project will be a self-construction without a qualified personnel and with the direct participation of the local community, it must meet certain construction requirements.

The competition is organised by the Balouo Salo Non-Profit Organisation, engaged in charitable projects in Africa, and all proceeds (obtained from the registration fees), will be entirely donated to the implementation of humanitarian projects in Africa to improve the living conditions of communities in rural areas.

The organizers said that the primary school project has no a defined plot. "The architecture could be conceived in any rural area in the South. Urban centres and regional capitals are therefore to be excluded." 

"For these reasons, no framework is required of the participants, who can envisage an ideal plot in any rural village and according to the characteristics defined in the call for entries."

All competition materials, including building materials & datas, photos, frameworks, layouts, can be downloaded after registrations.

Kaira Looro calendar & deadlines:

Early registrations: 13rd Jan - 28th Febr 2023 

Normal registrations: 1st March - 9th Apr 2023 

Late registrations: 10th Apr - 15th May 2023 

FAQ answer deadline: 1st June 2023 

Submissione Deadline: 11st June 2023

Jury evalution: 2nd June - 01st July 2023 

Winners announcements: 10th July 2023

The competition brief can be downloaded from here: Kaira Looro 2023.pdf.

For further information or to submit your entry, visit the Kaira Looro's competition website. 

Meanwhile, see the winners of the previous edition, Children's House competition in southern Senegal on WAC. 

All images © Balouo Salo. 

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