India's future-ready school: Good for the climate, good for girls

Unique, beautiful — and practical: Thanks to a combination of traditional building methods and contemporary design, the Rajkumari Ratnavati Girls' School in India's Thar desert is like an oasis. Its classrooms are all set on an open, elliptical courtyard that is reminiscent of a Roman colosseum — or a UFO. Solar roof panels supply the site with green energy.

Cooler temperatures come as a great relief to the girls who study at the school, and often pose a major change compared to the rest of the pupils' daily lives. "I like going to school," eight-year-old Khushboo Kumari told AFP. "The air feels like it's coming out of an air conditioner." At home, her family cannot even afford a fan.

Ventilation holes in the walls cast shadows at the same time they channel cool air. This keeps temperatures inside the school roughly 20% cooler than outside — a major plus in Rajasthan, where temperatures can climb to more than 50 degrees Celsius (122 degrees Fahrenheit) during the summer months. The school was designed by US architect Diana Kellogg.

The school was built by local workers, many of them the fathers of daughters who now attend. One of them is Manohar Lal, seen here with his daughter. "Since construction workers were so familiar with stone, it was easy to integrate traditional architectural details so that the building could authentically integrate into the region," architect Kellogg said.

The school is made from the same yellow sandstone used for the famous 12th-century fortress in the nearby city of Jaisalmer, which was named "the Golden City" as a result of their gleam. Like the fort, the school has very thick stone exterior walls to keep out heat. Interior walls are whitewashed with chalk as a way to regulate moisture and humidity.

The girls-only school provides 170 students the chance to attend classes. The project is sponsored in part by the US-based CITTA Education Foundation. Attendance is free. School uniforms, materials, a book bag and warm meals are also provided. Fittingly, the school is named after Rajasthan's historically famous Princess Ratnavati.

Supporting women is a great achievement for Rajasthan, where girls have poor chances of attaining an education. Literacy rates among adult women in the state are only about 52%. Femininity played a role in the design of the school, too: the oval form was inspired by "female symbols of strength," as architect Diana Kellogg told AFP.

A worker sweeps rainwater from the school courtyard. Although the building can deal well with high temperatures, it is still at risk of another unexpected problem stemming from climate change — flooding. Heavy rains have always been common during the annual monsoon season, but climate change has made these more frequent and more intense.