Studio Lauria presents the project for a farm just outside the village of Mgambo Maramba, in a slightly undulating terrain between the savannah and the green slopes of the Usambara Mountains.
The land expands on an area of about four hectares and on the initiative of the young Abdallah Meshack Sekulamba, will host a mango plantation. The plantation will not be intensive but managed with traditional methods and being “bio”, avoiding any use of chemicals.
The farm will be situated almost in the center of the area, in a flat zone, with a house of about 160 square meters, also equipped with an outdoor kitchen, and two more buildings for the farm facility.
The one that Meshack calls the “nursery”, will serve for the incubation of young mango plants, the other will cover a storage area for the fruit harvest and directed to the internal market. These two buildings have an area of about 120 square meters each, and, in their architecture is inspired by the lemon groves of the Tuscan hills.
Another “touch” of Tuscany is given by the windows, made by clay bricks, which recall those of the old farmhouses, a simple but useful technique to offer a good natural ventilation. The design priorities were essentially two: designing elements that can be built, for techniques and materials, by the locals, and thinking in terms of livability, in a climate atmosphere that is challenging.
So the three buildings have a roof almost “suspended” to ensure the shelter from the sun but also the most appropriate air circulation. Sustainability was also the basic principle on designing the open space at the center of this small settlement: in addition to the well which will capture the water about 60 meters deep.
The Studio Lauria proposes a redesign of bromelias, a kind of inverted umbrella able to provide shade and collect the rainwater. An intervention that recalls the project that Studio Lauria developed for the city of Belem in Brazil and for which he designed the “original” bromelia. Source by Studio Lauria.
- Location: Mgambo, Tanzania
- Architect: Studio Lauria
- Chief architect: Daniele Lauria
- Collaborators: Lisa Donatini, Maddalena Branchi, Annika Schwippl
- Area: 400 sq.m.
- Year: 2017
- Images: Courtesy of Studio Lauria