Study Architecture 
ProPEL 
Author(s): Kevin Jones
In December of 2015, a fire destroyed the campus library at Mzuzu University (Mzuni) in northern Malawi, Africa. The entire collection of nearly 50,000 volumes, much of the university’s computing infrastructure, and an irreplaceable archive of Malawi heritage artifacts were lost. In a resource limited context where reliable access to books and data resources is scarce, the Mzuni library was a cherished repository of knowledge and a symbol of self-reliance for students, faculty, and the greater Mzuzu community. Since the fall of 2017, a team of students and faculty from the Virginia Tech Center for Design Research in the United States has been working to design a new library in support of the national, regional, and global aspirations of Mzuzu University. The design team began the project by visiting Malawi, where they defined essential goals and parameters through contextual immersion and stakeholder meetings with Mzuni, national building officials, local architects, and members of the U.S. Embassy. This trip raised critical awareness of the very real social, cultural, and practical issues associated with pursuing international impact projects in resource-limited countries. Most importantly, the experience grounded the team in a shared set of architectural and material strategies that would go on to define the various design propositions, including the selected “Portal” scheme. Currently, the Portal is being further developed in collaboration with architects from Malawi, with construction slated to begin in 2019. This paper seeks to document and interrogate the design of the new Mzuzu University library by positioning material conscience as a multivalent instrument of empowerment, aspiration, and identity for resource-limited countries.
https://doi.org/10.35483/ACSA.Intl.2018.24
Volume Editors
Ángela García de Paredes, Iñaqui Carnicero & Julio Salcedo-Fernandez
ISBN
978-1-944214-18-0
