India is a land of extremes. Whether we examine the country’s climate, culture, geography, linguistic diversity or economic conditions, the paucity of moderation in the country is stoutly felt. It is a nation with an ambitious enough space program to have entered the Martian orbit while also simultaneously hosting the highest number of people living in extreme poverty globally, according to a 2024 United Nations report. Against this reality, it is almost chimerical to assume that the aspirational words of Rabindranath Tagore, “Where knowledge is free”, in his 1910 poem Chitto Jetha Bhayshunyo (Where the mind is without fear) can truly manifest in the country equitably. Like every other basic resource in the country, the spaces and means of knowledge production are becoming increasingly scarce (or exorbitant)—an aspect that simultaneously propels despair and philanthropy amongst those ranking slightly higher on empathy graphs and Maslowian charts.

In response to this aforementioned state of affairs, we witness, today, an almost ceaseless proliferation of the development sector. Although regarded infamously as a fallacious coping technique designed to direct attention towards individual responsibility and away from administrative accountability—a discussion, perhaps, for another time—the accomplishments of the social impact sector are, nevertheless, worthy of attention for their didactic value. Amongst the litany of not-for-profit firms in the country is Round Table India (RTI), an organisation that focuses on building classrooms and administering multiple community service activities across India. Under their project ‘Freedom Through Education’, RTI has built nearly 10,000 classrooms over the years. More recently, the NGO collaborated with Nashik-based architecture studio PK_iNCEPTiON, headed by Indian architect Pooja Khairnar, to build a Rural Library in the Kochargaon village in Maharashtra, India.

This community architecture project in Kochargaon was initiated after RTI surveyed the village and found it sorely lacking facilities for reading and learning, which has consequently also affected the literacy rates in the region adversely. RTI, hence, intended to make space within the village for the organic augmentation of means and modes of knowledge production and sharing amongst individuals of all ages in Kochargaon.

While the initial plan for this project focused on constructing two study rooms to ensure gendered segregation, the architects and the NGO, over multiple discussions and site visits, decided to lay out a flexible space that could adapt to host disparate didactic and engaging activities. By eschewing the typical process of building classrooms designated for formal education, RTI and PK_iNCEPTiON manage to carve a community space in the village that can inculcate the importance of education in the community and encourage people to strive towards a more literate society. The final design includes a library, a reading area, study rooms and a multipurpose space for various educational activities.

The Rural Library is built on a site where an old collapsed Aanganwadi previously rested. The architects built the library on the Aanganwadi’s undisturbed and stable plinth. The Rural Library is situated close to the main temple complex of the village. The two structures remain connected via a transitory pavilion that stands before the temple, which also often hosts religious and public events in the village. The Rural Library, sitting one metre below the road level, remains visually and spatially connected to the pavilion and the street.

The placement of the library in close proximity to the temple complex appends the experience of the villagers by temporally expanding the deemed cultural centre of Kochargaon. Further, the entrance to the library comes after a series of steps leading down from the road. This transitory zone, with steps doubling as seats, additionally serves as an informal gathering space for the residents of Kochargaon.

As one enters the library from the west, they are greeted by an arched entryway that leads to a vestibular semi-covered pavilion. This zone hosts seats at its longitudinal edges—nooks that can double as solitudinous spots for studying, contemplation or conversations. As one proceeds, they enter the central courtyard. Open to the sky, this central zone is flanked by study rooms on its north and south sides and a book stacking and computer room on the eastern edge. It also hosts a sliding blackboard that doubles as a cabinet door for the newspapers, magazines and books stacked behind it.

While the study rooms are designed to accommodate the younger populace of the village, the covered verandah at the farther edge of the Rural Library offers a private and calm environment for the elderly to read and relax. Elaborating upon the flexibility of the courtyard design, the studio shares, "The courtyard morphs into an outdoor classroom for children, a workshop space for youth and a night school for the village women, fostering a vibrant educational ecosystem.” Positioned across the library courtyard, facing both the temple and the street, the blackboard and book-stacking area draw the attention of passers-by and temple visitors with a litany of colourful book covers.

To ensure thermal comfort within the library, the architects have left ample openings on the walls and roof of the structure. The core of the library, the courtyard, is flanked by arched openings on all sides and an open-to-sky roof, facilitating cross-ventilation and the infiltration of diffused light into the space. The design also ensures the sustenance of ample views of the surrounding trees, the village landscape and the sky.

The inclusion of ample openings in the library design also helped reduce material costs. Further, the project's cost-effectiveness was ensured by utilising locally available stone for the floors, corrugated metal sheets for the pitched roof and load-bearing arched openings that additionally fulfil the project’s aesthetic requirements.

“Keeping all the prerequisites in mind, we aspired to create a spatial experience that offers tranquillity for reading, inclusivity for learning, playfulness for children and secure book stacking within an open design ethos,” reads an excerpt from the press release. These aspirations culminate in the design of the Rural Library, wherein the spatial organisation of the four pavilions and the central courtyard balance privacy and engagement and offer optimal room for adaptability in usage.

Project Details

Name: Rural Library
Location: Kochargaon, Nashik, Maharashtra, India
Client: Round Table India
Architecture Studio: PK_iNCEPTiON
Lead Architect: Pooja Khairnar
Design Team: Tanishq Tejnani and Tejaswini Kawale for design and working drawings; Bhavik Chopada and Shantanu Tribhuvan for detailed drawings; Swaroop Sope and Aditi Phopaliya for models; Bhavik Chopada for graphics and presentation drawings
Built Area: 108 sqm
Year of Completion: 2024