Intercultural Dialogue Through Design (iDiDe) as a Platform for Built Environment Education for Sustainability in Rural Developing Contexts: Building Ampara, Sri Lanka

Abstract

The 2016 Pritzker Prize awarded to socially conscious Chilean architect Alejandro Aravena for dedication towards improvement of social and humanitarian issues around the globe heralded a firm spotlight on socially responsible architecture and a holistic view of sustainability. Deakin University’s iDiDe (pronounced “i-dee-dee”) delivered a global mobility study tour model with structured immersive learning that focused upon sustainable rural community development in the Eastern district of Ampara, Sri Lanka. The program facilitated student learning of sustainability across the realms of environmental, cultural and social dimensions. Deakin University partnered with a number of institutions and organizations and pursued community participatory approaches to the design process. Mixed teams of students engaged collaboratively in context analysis and research for sustainable design. Three prototype projects being a Community Based Organisation (CBO) community facility, an adaptable classroom and low-cost teacher’s house, alongside the introduction of bamboo as an integral sustainable building material were initiated in 2016. This paper evaluated student assessment outcomes and reflected upon partnerships in the context of the collective response to community needs. It concluded that there is academic merit in an immersion unit such as iDiDe to act as a global platform for education for sustainability in Asia. The adoption for an integral sustainable design and construction framework appropriate for rural contexts has been recognized as a way forward and a direction for future research.