Anganwadis are small facilities in rural India dedicated to early childhood, offering spaces for health, basic services, and the first forms of learning through play. The word translates as “protected courtyards,” but they are rarely places of quality. The one designed by Fahed + Architects in Kochi overturns this notion, introducing unexpected spaces of value on a plot that appeared as a liminal urban void, compressed between the road and the trees.
This concrete-and-light sculpture serves as public architecture for children
From an urban void rises an Anganwadi—a building that brings together services, educational spaces, and community functions. Unlike many others in India, however, this one has a very strong aesthetic identity.
Foto Nayan Krishna, Ram Naresh
Foto Nayan Krishna, Ram Naresh
Foto Nayan Krishna, Ram Naresh
Foto Nayan Krishna, Ram Naresh
Foto Nayan Krishna, Ram Naresh
Foto Nayan Krishna, Ram Naresh
Foto Nayan Krishna, Ram Naresh
Foto Nayan Krishna, Ram Naresh
Foto Nayan Krishna, Ram Naresh
Foto Nayan Krishna, Ram Naresh
Foto Nayan Krishna, Ram Naresh
Foto Nayan Krishna, Ram Naresh
Foto Nayan Krishna, Ram Naresh
Foto Nayan Krishna, Ram Naresh
Foto Nayan Krishna, Ram Naresh
Foto Nayan Krishna, Ram Naresh
Foto Nayan Krishna, Ram Naresh
Foto Nayan Krishna, Ram Naresh
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- Gerardo Semprebon
- 22 September 2025
- Kochi, India
- Fahed + Architects
- 134 m²
- Uso misto con ambulatorio per bambini
- 2024
The new building unfolds as a sequence of material drapes which, lifting up, establish a visual connection on the ground floor between inside and outside. On the front side, by contrast, the surfaces remain bare, like canvases drawn by the shadows of neighboring trees. Between one “sail” and the next, full-height glazed openings reinforce the impression of lightness as one approaches.
Solar panels and strategies for natural ventilation help reduce emissions and consumption, integrated into this architectural sculpture among the trees. The reasons behind these unexpected forms do not lie in a will to astonish, but in the possibility of creating bonds of identity and belonging for the community that will use this facility dedicated to children — proving that even the simplest program can be approached with daring ideas.
Project drawing
Project drawing
Project drawing
Project drawing
Project drawing
Project drawing