Play with Plinth

Haiti, long vulnerable to natural disasters and political instability, continues to struggle with the aftermath of the 2010 earthquake that destroyed more than 80 percent of schools in the west of the country. In response, TECHO Haiti, in collaboration with ARCHsharing, launched the Rural School in Haiti competition to design a resilient, low-cost educational facility for the TE NWA community north of Port-au-Prince. With a limited budget of $45,000, the project must address seismic safety while providing children with safe, dignified, and playful learning spaces. The design concept, Play with Plinth, draws from Caribbean architectural traditions where daily life extends outdoors. Here, the raised plinth is both structure and playground, a medium through which children engage with the site. A grid of nine trees marks spatial positions, with classrooms, multipurpose hall, and kitchen arranged fluidly around them. Built on stone foundations with timber superstructures, breathable lattice walls, and meandering plinth surfaces, the school nurtures resilience, learning, and joy.