A friend of a friend asked me to design a High School near the town of Salima in Malawi in south central Africa. The project is located on pristine and open high ground, sufficient in size for a 400-600 student high school with both college preparatory and technical training facilities, a gym assembly hall, athletic fields, housing for boarding students, teachers and headmaster, kitchen/dining hall, administrative and support buildings. On March 22, 2022 I flew to Malawi to meet with the school’s founder and the head of Many Hopes, the organization funding the project. We walked the site, met with the land surveyor, students, teachers and potential contractors and began work on a project program and building concept. Together with Walter Nyasulu, our Malawian Architect, we are considering several cutting-edge technologies that will enable us to minimize the use of imported construction material and optimize the use of local labor and trade skills.
