In spring 2020, extension of the classroom was scheduled, but we canceled our visit to Kenya due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Instead of the construction aid, we found that furniture could be manufactured and delivered to the school. Therefore, in April 2021, Imoto Lab. at the Department of Architecture, Nihon University, started designing tables, chairs, and shelves for the classroom.

Besides being a place for learning, the classroom is also used for exercise space, especially during the rainy season, due to the lack of a gymnasium. Hence, in addition to desks and chairs, we also designed a special panel to put away the desks and the chairs on it when a wider space is needed.

Desks and chairs can be arranged on the floor in various layouts. In addition to the conventional teaching style, in which students sit at the aligned desk facing a black board, we hoped these pieces of furniture would promote more interactive teaching styles, in which students can sit facing each other and teach each other.

To design the furniture, we requested cooperation from VUILD inc. (https://vuild.co.jp/) for digital fabrication. We chose 12 mm lauan plywood as a base material, and 24 mm lauan plywood for better stability of desks. With this selection, we made the completed pieces as small and light as possible for air transportation from Japan to Kenya. We used VUILD’s factory in Kawasaki and Shopbot for cutting the material, then filed and assembled the cutout pieces manually.

The furniture had arrived at the school in October 2021. At first, users preferred desks and chairs for a flat layout, but younger children (pre-schoolers) gradually started sitting face to face with the furniture. The panel was also used to hang jackets and bags, in addition to putting the chairs away.

In November 2021, buildings of the whole neighborhood were forcefully removed, including the school. Just before the removal, school staff took apart furniture and building materials of the school, and secured them at a rural area.In March 2022, they built a new classroom by themselves and put back the furniture as it used to be.