Photograph

Bavra Village School – Domed vault made from layers of cone-tile stacked to form arches, and laid together to form a spherical vault: Photographs

01/01/1962

Construction Process

Three images depicting the school roof under construction: 1. Brick arches are completed and dome formwork in process; 2. Dome formwork being placed; and 3. Dome ribs being formed by placing the guna tiles.
They were exhibited at the Locus Manifesto-exposition “Re-enchant the World: Architecture and the City facing society´s transitions”, in Science Cabinet 2.

Photographer:

Christopher Alexander/C.E.S., Bavra, State of Gujarat, India

Source:

Digital, Print

Characteristics:

7 7/8"x7 7/8", B&W

Content of

Construction Innovation

Bavra Village School: Domed vault made from layers of cone-tile stacked to form arches, and laid together to form a spherical vault 1962

Construction System, Vaulted Roof & Ceiling

Created by:

Christopher Alexander, Village bricklayers

Fabrication of roof truncated cylindrical tiles and development of the vaulted roof ribs for the construction of the school roof. The guna-type roof ribs are made by cone-shaped tiles, each one about a foot long and 4" to 5" ...

Contents

Photographs

References

Projects

Village School in Bavra 1962

Bavra, near Mehmedabad, Gujarat, India

Educational, Realized , Construction completed in 1962

C.E.S. staff:

Christopher Alexander with Janet Johnson

Contractor:

Christoper Alexander and the villagers with the help of two bricklayers

Sponsor:

Government of Gujarat, Village Development Planning

Project stages:

No drawings were produced Users involved in the construction Innovative construction methods

Four- room school for the village, made by four arched walls and a ribbed vaulted roof, and built by Christopher Alexander and the villagers, at the minimum available budget of less than $1000.

Public Events

Locus Manifesto-exposition "Re-enchant the World: Architecture and the City facing Society´s Transitions" 21/05/2014 to 06/10/2014

The Cité de l’Architecture et du Patrimoine, Paris, France

Exhibition

C.E.S. staff:

Maggie Moore, Artemis Anninou, Lily Alexander

Organized by:

LOCUS Foundation & Cité de l'Architecture & du Patrimoine - Marie-Hélène Contal, Curator

The 40 architects already awarded the Global Award for Sustainable Architecture participated and exhibited their works. The exhibition was on international touring until 2016. Christopher Alexander’s participation included the extensive presentation of the Mexicali project in the “Saving the People’s Habitat” ...

Visual & Audio Materials

Locus Manifesto-exposition: CES presented the construction innovation on the use of cone-tiles for building a domed vault, as applied in the village school in Bavra, India. 30/05/2014

Public Event, Visual, Exhibition Board

Created by:

Lily Alexander, Artemis Anninou, Maggie Moore, Center for Environmental Structure, Berkeley, CA, U.S.A.

Three boards in Science Cabinet #1, illustrating the basic construction steps for the making of the domed vault, made from layers of cone-tile stacked to form arches, by the villagers.

Reports

Master Plan for Village of Bavra: Village for Gujarat, India 01/01/1962

Project, Project Report

Authors:

Christopher Alexander, Cambridge, MA, U.S.A.

81-page report organized in three parts: 1st part describes how the project initiated and the work produced after seven months of field study in the village of Brava, near Mehemedabad, Gujarat; 2nd part includes the 32 pages of a reprinted ...