The Simba Vision Montessori School by Architectural Pioneering Consultants withWolfgang Rossbauer navigates the complex shifts faced by the Maasai people in TanzaniaThe road from Arusha town towards Ngabobo village in northern Tanzania marks a harsh divide between arid and fertile land: possible evidence of uneven water distribution caused by the mountainous topography, or the impact of activities such as overgrazing due to relocation policies. A few kilometres away by the Ngorongoro Crater a World Heritage Site Maasai communities are protesting against forced eviction presented under the guise of conservation. Thousands have been removed from their ancestral land, which has been encroached upon for safari tourism, as the government offers resettlement plans consisting of concreteblock houses in distant regions. Communities on the ground are increasingly wary of both local and foreign interventions.As seminomadic pastoralists, the Maasai peoples access to education has been historically tenuous. While schools are increasingly established by the state, as well as local and international organisations, some innovative curricula integrate modern education with traditional Maasai values. Many schools in this region have been built or supported by Africa Amini Alama, an Austrian nonprofit providing healthcare and education. In 2015, Africa Amini Alama established Simba Vision School, an educational site in Ngabobo, and commissioned a new building in 2019 through an open call for design proposals, in order to embrace the Montessori curriculum a method of education centred on selfdirected activity, handson learning and collaborative play and welcome more students, now numbering 335. The winning proposal was created by Swiss firm Architectural Pioneering Consultants (APC) who have offices in Zrich and Dar es Salaam, and have designed several projects across the country including educational and healthcare facilities along with the Swiss architect Wolfgang Rossbauer.To arrive at the Simba Vision site, children have to walk along small trails interrupted by streams and sliding sand, a terrain that is equally challenging by vehicle. Lucas Massangwe, a Montessori teacherintraining at the school, explains that this piece of land was chosen by elders in the community; APCs managing director Gunter Klix adds that the land was given by the local district council. Klix speculates that the land was given because it was not good for anything: neither grazing nor agriculture. Some ruins on the outskirts of the site, however, suggest that this was not always the case. A series of low walls made of fieldstones, believed to predate independence in 1961, form an enclosure likely used to hold livestock and suggesting there was housing nearby.As I arrive at the Simba Vision site a collection of buildings arranged roughly around an open square students hold a religious studies class in an outdoor amphitheatre. A short walk away through the trees, others are sitting exams in the new building. This structure used Montessori design principles, championed by the Swiss Arthur Waser Foundation which cofunded the new Simba Vision building. The project was an opportunity to test the 28 patterns, or principles, described in Montessori Architecture: A Design Instrument for Schools. For example, classrooms blend into each other, limiting the use of doors, while children activate the floorspace for learning. In Montessori education, the teachers role is to instil a sense of autonomy as a facilitator and observer who moves through the space, as opposed to dictating from the front of the classroom. Learning materials featured in the classrooms are functional, tailored and accessible, allowing a freedom of choice for learners from different walks of life. The learning becomes alive when they interact with these materials, explains John Terevael, a co-ordinator responsible for the Montessori programme at Simba Vision.The new buildings walls are rotated by 45 degrees to the primary axis, orienting rooms at an optimum angle towards the sun, explains Klix; natural light floods the space through diamondshaped windows. In views from the first floor, the grounds stretch out to a large football field on one side and a small farm on the other. The fenceless campus makes it difficult to distinguish the perimeter of the site an alignment with both the Maasais connection with nature, as well as Montessori principles.The choice of a multistorey building is unusual in the area. According to Klix, it was among the most controversial of design decisions, and was adopted to make room for other developments on the site. Klix believes the multistorey volume emphasises the importance and grandeur of education in a community gradually embracing more modern schooling.Drawing closer to Simba Vision, there is a noticeable and sudden change from patches of green pastures and cabbage farms to fine black sand. It is from these remnants of volcanic rock that APC designed concrete blocks for the construction of the new school. The architects experimented with this sand to create a concrete block developed at the Arusha Technical College. After several rounds of testing, the final blocks were made onsite from volcanic sand freely in Klixs words available from the terrain, river sand from Sanya Juu 30km away to strengthen the mix, and cement, at a proportion of 10 per cent, acquired from the coastal town of Tanga about 400km away. Concrete of a slightly different mix, using aggregate from a nearby quarry, was used for the floor slabs, while the roof is formed from zinc sheets from Arusha town, on steel trusses from Nairobi in neighbouring Kenya, 260km north.The concrete blocks provide a sturdy facade in this somewhat harsh climate, but the technique has not been adopted locally, likely due to expensive equipment and material costs. The sense of permanence from concrete also seems to conflict with Maasai architectural heritage. Traditionally, the Maasai live in familybased homesteads called ekang, with women responsible for the construction and maintenance of dwellings known as inkajijik. Their round forms carry grass roofs layered with cow dung and mud, materials also used to plaster walls for temperature regulation. A few small reading nooks in the new building are covered in this plaster made from straw and mud: a nod to tradition while providing private spaces in line with Montessori principles, but this is primarily symbolic and referential.Klix explains that the initial plan for the building had been to use fired clay bricks a potentially less carbonintensive material but this was dismissed as clay was only available over 60km away, a large amount of material requiring transport by road with its associated carbon emissions. Though the cement used in the concrete blocks came from much further away, Klix argues that the amount of cement requiring transport was much smaller than the amount of clay required. Fired bricks were used just 40km away at the Econef Childrens Center, designed by Swedish studios Asante Architecture & Design and Lnnqvist & Vanamo Architects, who were equally mindful of excessive transport costs and prioritised a local community of builders over advanced masonry skills or costly external expertise.Rammed earth, mud blocks and ferrocement (a thin layer of mortar laid on wire mesh) were adopted over 20 years ago by the Maasai Integrated Shelter Project in neighbouring Kenya, showing commitment to replacing traditional materials with more healthcautious and weatherproof alternatives. While the upkeep of traditional methods is laborious, it ensures the biodegradability of materials which are reabsorbed into the earth after serving their time, conducive to seminomadic lifestyles. While there is local use of mud bricks in Ngabobo, Klix explains that a fusion of materials was more appealing than solely traditional materials to the local Maasai people who were consulted. The decision to construct a twostorey building also resulted in structural demands that could not easily be met by raw earth construction.The Simba Vision community heavily relies on a nearby stream for water. Built by both foreign and local workers, volunteers and architects, the new construction was limited to the rainy season when water was more available, especially for work with cement. Unfortunately, the project missed the opportunity to collect rainwater from the roof, depending instead on a water tower that filters water from the stream for nonpotable uses. Due to high fluoride levels, the campus relies on neighbouring Pamoja School for drinking water. A small photovoltaic system is currently the only electricity source for the site, and this lack of electricity has delayed the development of essential facilities, such as a computer lab and dormitories for students and teachers. A larger PV plant which will provide enough electricity offgrid for the entire school will be added once the school has sufficient funds, Klix explains.It is evident that the new school is more of a Montessori school in progress. With two certified Montessori teachers so far, it currently blends a hybrid of state curriculum at the primary levels and special Montessori classes in the nursery. Montessori is still an experimental approach here; it is the first of its kind in this particular region, both architecturally and educationally.Concretes sense of permanence seems to conflict with Maasai architectural heritageThere are also cultural navigations in progress between modern and traditional Maasai culture. Land and livestock are essential to Maasai cultural continuity, and their Maa language remains a crucial tool of transmission of culture. However, the influx of westernised education poses a threat to cultural values, arguably diverting youth from traditional ways of life. At Simba Vision, I encounter a sign by the teachers office reading: No English, no service. If the environment is a third teacher according to Montessori principles, this one does not yet seem fully adapted.The Maasai sociocultural ecosystem faces challenges of rapid urbanisation and conservation projects, limiting their seminomadic lifestyle and leading to a gradual shift towards modern housing and education. The Maasai culture is not stagnant; their way of life welcomes outsiders and is constantly changing with both positive and negative results. The Simba Vision school is testament to crosscultural experimentation in progress, welcomed by the community but with room for growth.2024-10-28Reuben J BrownShare AR October 2024Buy Now