Immuna Nanotourism

Edugate
Afshin Koupei

EduGate is a collaborative base located at the corner of Immuna’s soccer field. Here, children and grown-ups from the villages of Immuna and Srafa, of different backgrounds and religions, cross, gather, and meet to play soccer. The idea for the project evolved from the finding that parents long for better education for their children, and from children’s growing interest in knowing and learning about the internet, computers, and new technologies. EduGate is also a space where volunteers and professionals can come to Immuna and teach children and grown-ups technologies and topics that are new to them. EduGate consists of a computer lab, a living space for the volunteer teachers who are staying in the village, and a shelter for the public. Located next to the soccer field at the crossroads between two villages, it also serves as a hub for an informal bus/taxi station that is located in the same place. EduGate has been designed as a low-tech dome structure that can be built with the help of locals and is based on the super adobe technology invented by Nader Khalil, and further developed by the Cal-Earth Institute.