Architecture
Primary School, Kuklah
After 2023 landslides destroyed their school, Kuklah's children helped redesign it — shallow brick domes, salvaged debris, AR-guided participation.
LOCATION
Mandi
YEARS
2023
STATUS
Built
COMISSIONED BY
SEEDS
RECOGNITION
Ammodo Architecture Award 2025 (Local Scale)
01
THE PROJECT
What was the Challenge?
In 2023, monsoon landslides tore through Mandi district and took the village school with them. The brief from SEEDS was direct: rebuild quickly, build minimally, and leave room for the school to grow in increments as the village recovers.
The harder challenge was quieter. A school rebuilt for a grieving village risks feeling like something delivered to them. It had to be theirs from the first drawing.
02
THE PROJECT
What did we learn first?
In 2023, monsoon landslides tore through Mandi district and took the village school with them. The brief from SEEDS was direct: rebuild quickly, build minimally, and leave room for the school to grow in increments as the village recovers.
The harder challenge was quieter. A school rebuilt for a grieving village risks feeling like something delivered to them. It had to be theirs from the first drawing.
The design brief wasn't written in our studio. It was assembled on the hillside.
03
THE PROJECT
What did we make?
In 2023, monsoon landslides tore through Mandi district and took the village school with them. The brief from SEEDS was direct: rebuild quickly, build minimally, and leave room for the school to grow in increments as the village recovers.
The harder challenge was quieter. A school rebuilt for a grieving village risks feeling like something delivered to them. It had to be theirs from the first drawing.
04
THE PROJECT
How was it built?
In 2023, monsoon landslides tore through Mandi district and took the village school with them. The brief from SEEDS was direct: rebuild quickly, build minimally, and leave room for the school to grow in increments as the village recovers.
The harder challenge was quieter. A school rebuilt for a grieving village risks feeling like something delivered to them. It had to be theirs from the first drawing.
05
THE PROJECT
Who made it possible?
SEEDS, who commissioned and implemented the reconstruction. The masons of Mandi, who learned a new roof and now own it. And the children and teachers of Kuklah — the project's first designers, and its daily inhabitants.
06
THE PROJECT
What did it teach us?
07
GALLERY
Process and Places
CREDITS
Team
DHAMMADA TEAM
Architects:
Interns:
Nipun Prabhakar, Nilesh Suman, Simran Channa
Nudia Aufia, Swara Chavan
PHOTOGRPAHY
Nipun Prabhakar
COMMISSIONED BY
SEEDS
BUILT WITH
Village children, teachers, stakeholders
Azad Singh (Dome maker)
RECOGNITION
Ammodo Architecture Award 2025 (Local Scale)
PUBLICATIONS