During the September flood, the village of Zelazno in the Klodzko Basin was flooded and cut off from help for a long time. The surge of the Biała Lądecka River reached every farm, causing unbelievable damage and huge losses. The local elementary school also suffered - the necessary renovation of the facility forced the management to temporarily suspend teaching classes. How long will it take to recover from the floods? It is difficult to say. However, children will be able to return to regular classes as early as November.
Read more: We swam again. Flood worse than 1997?
Visualization of a school made of containers in the village of Zelazno
© Modular System
Today's crises - whether related to migration or the effects of climate change, among others - force quick and creative responses. Leading the way is Shigeru Ban, a Japanese architect and Pritzker Prize winner whose studio has a number of projects to help disaster victims on an ad hoc basis, including privacy-providing screen systems(Paper Partition System) and even temporary homes or schools made of cardboard sleeves.
Modular solutions also come to the rescue in crisis situations - although they still need to be refined aesthetically, they allow for the creation of relatively comfortable learning and working conditions very quickly. In the case of the school in Zelazno, this will be a temporary solution, but the first "permanent" schools in Poland are already being built using modular technology, for example, in Wroclaw's Maślice district.
Building a school from containers
© Modular System
In Zelazno, next to a school building in need of renovation, 54 modules were erected in 48 hours. The containers will create a school and kindergarten with a total area of 663 square meters, which will house 9 classrooms for more than 80 students in grades 1-8, 2 rooms for 30 preschool children, locker rooms, rooms for teachers and management, sanitary spaces and 3 specialized offices. The school was charitably built from prefabricated containers by Modular System, while it will be equipped by furniture manufacturer Entelo.
School made of containers in the village of Zelazno in Kotlina Klodzka
© Modular System
The pro bono work of the manufacturers of modular container systems and furniture is undoubtedly worth appreciating, and the use of containers can be an excuse for both teachers and students to find creative solutions during classes. However, can we put aside aesthetic issues?
A school made of containers in the village of Zelazno in Kotlina Klodzka
© Modular System
As Magdalena Milert(Pieing) writes, a school is a place where a child spends a lot of time, so it matters whether it is a pleasant and inviting space. Classrooms should support concentration, corridors should be a place to relax, play and spend breaks, so it is worth taking care of the acoustics and seating in them. The aesthetics of the facade and surroundings are also important.
These are the patterns that children learn, recognize as valid, and then duplicate," writes Magdalena Milert. - A school is definitely more than a building to which one comes for a few hours. It is the one that performs very important educational functions," she adds.
Experience also shows that often what is intended to be only a temporary solution, in reality functions much longer, so it is advisable to take care of its quality, including visual.
Visualization of one of the rooms in a temporary school in the village of Zelazno in Kotlina Klodzka
© Modular System
Interesting examples of ad hoc solutions - including those using containers - can be found, among others, in the IRMIR Urban Policy Observatory report "The Housing Issue and the Refugee Crisis. Common challenges and solutions for balancing the housing sector in Poland": Container City, a town made of containers in the London borough of Tower Hamlets, or Container Learn - additional lecture halls and learning space on a London campus.
Container Learn
© Institute for Urban and Regional Development
According to klodzko.naszemiasto.pl - the modular school in Zelazno will serve students for at least a year and a half. That's quite a long time for a temporary exit. Perhaps this is a good time to look for a systemic solution to this type of challenge?
