The award winning, Aga Khan-shortlisted Makoko Floating School in Lagos, Nigeria has collapsed, reports Nigerian news website NAIJ.com. Torrential rainfall brought down the structure on Tuesday, though, fortunately, no casualties were reported.
Designed by Nigerian architect Kunlé Adeyemi (of NLÉ) and built in collaboration with Makoko/Iwaya Waterfront Community and the United Nation Development Programme (UNDP) in 2013, the three-level A-frame school accommodated over 100 school children and their teachers in Makoko, a settlement built over water in the Lagos Lagoon.
After three years of use, the school was decommissioned in March to make way for upgrades, and students relocated to another building, according to a statement from NLÉ. The architects, community, and potential stakeholders were already in the process of considering upgrading the structure with a new iteration of the structure, MFS II, which is currently on view at the Venice Architectural Biennale and received the Silver Lion award for a Promising Young Participant last week.
Kunlé Adeyemi had this to say:
NLÉ and Makoko community greatly appreciate the concern and support received from so many people following the news alarm about Makoko Floating School. We are glad there were no casualties in what seemed like an abrupt collapse. The prototype had served its purpose in time and we look forward to the reconstruction of the improved version amongst other greater developments of the community.