DRUK WHITE LOTUS SCHOOLAs part of Professor Sergio Palleroni's longstanding BaSiC Initiative, students from across North America participated in a design/build program to create a new and much-needed Visitor Centre for the Druk White Lotus School in Ladakh, India, in partnership with ARUP Associates.
The Druk White Lotus School is a primary and secondary school under the patronage of the Dalai Lama, and founded in 1992. It sits high in the Indian Himalaya among one of the last remaining mountain societies where a traditional Tibetan Buddhist way of life still thrives. The school was started at the request of the Ladakhi people, who wanted a school that would help maintain their rich cultural traditions while equipping their children for life in the 21st Century.
For more information, visit our website
--
In the summer of 2010, students spent five weeks in the region collaborating with ARUP in the second phase of charrettes toward improving and preserving the life of the Ladakhi community at Druk White. It was determined that a Visitor Centre was a much-needed addition to the school, in order to educate guests on the workings of the school without disrupting the children's daily routines.
Upon entering the Visitor Centre, guests are greeted by a large corner window with a view to the Naropa Monastery and the spectacular mountain range surrounding the valley. A custom-made cabinet that draws upon traditional Ladakhi furniture styles acts as a semi-transparent partition between the entrance and the gallery space; which will hold Ladakhi artifacts, information on the school, and student artwork. Guests entering the gallery are greeted by the light of four skylights, which illuminate the hand-made mosaic inlayed into the floor. The back wall of the gallery is daylit using a "wash wall" technique in which an extruding, angled partition helps to bounce light far into the space.
Below: sketches and photographs of Ladakh
