Fass School and Teachers' Residences: The Oval of Education, Fass, Senegal
Situated in a remote region of Senegal, the Fass School and Teachers’ Residences is a groundbreaking educational facility designed by Toshiko Mori. As the first school in a network of over 110 villages to provide secular education alongside traditional teachings, it accommodates up to 300 students. The building reimagines vernacular architecture through a stunning, oval-shaped mud-brick and thatch structure, perfectly blending cultural heritage with passive climatic design.
A New Paradigm for Rural Education
In rural Senegal, access to secular education alongside traditional Quranic teaching is transformative. Completed in collaboration with the Josef and Anni Albers Foundation and Le Korsa, the Fass School bridges this gap for children aged 5 through 10. The architecture itself plays a vital role in this mission, offering a safe, highly functional, and culturally resonant space that honors local building traditions while introducing innovative environmental strategies.
The Vision: The One-Room Schoolhouse Reimagined
The spatial organization of the school is both highly practical and deeply communal. The Oval Courtyard: Inspired by the rural American 'One Room School House' where Josef Albers once taught, the design arranges four classrooms and two flexible spaces around a central interior courtyard. Fluid Circulation: This continuous oval shape allows for easy and rapid circulation. With a limited number of teachers, the layout enables educators to move quickly between different age groups and classes. The varying heights and proximities of the perimeter walls create diverse spatial experiences for the students as they move through the building.
Tectonics: Mud-Brick and Thatch
The building’s shape is rooted in vernacular precedents, utilizing traditional skills and locally sourced materials. Perforated Earth Walls: The structural walls are built from local mud-bricks. These walls are painted white to deflect the harsh Senegalese sun and are strategically perforated to allow continuous natural ventilation and airflow throughout the classrooms. Bamboo and Steel: Small steel members and locally harvested bamboo work together to support the massive roof structure, creating a lightweight but highly resilient framework.
The Living Building: The Climatic Canopy
The most striking feature of the school is its monumental thatched roof, which acts as a sophisticated climate control engine. The Stack Effect: The thick thatch provides highly effective insulation against the extreme heat. Its towering, pitched shape utilizes the "stack effect," allowing trapped hot air to rise into the peak of the roof and escape, which in turn pulls cool, fresh air into the occupied spaces below. Rainwater Harvesting: With a consistent pitch of 45 degrees or greater, the unique roof form maximizes rainwater runoff. This vital water is diverted into a channel that encircles the building, ultimately emptying into an existing local aquifer to support the community's water security.
Data Sheet
Project: Fass School and Teachers’ Residences
Location: Fass, Senegal
Architect: Toshiko Mori Architect
Completion Year: 2019
Capacity: Up to 300 students
Key Materials: Mud-Brick, Bamboo, Thatch, Steel
Typology: Education / School
Client: The Josef and Anni Albers Foundation / Le Korsa
Project Gallery
