Architecture studio Pareid and students from Chulalongkorn University have built an open-walled classroom around two water collecting funnels in western Thailand.
Called Pylonesque, the classroom was created as an additional space at the Ban Wang Toey School in the Thai province of Uthai Thani. It is covered by a  roof made of two funnels that collect water and channel it to storage containers underground.
Hadin Charbel, co-founder of Pareid, said he wanted the building to be both a classroom and a visible water collection structure to demonstrate the importance of water to the school's students.

"The project is located in a very rural part of Thailand, where running water in some instances is not as easily accessible as one might assume," he told Dezeen. "It seemed fitting that a multi-use space at a local school could integrate architecture and local strategies as more than just a practical response, but one that would stimulate the students, while also making water collection accessible, transparent and a conscientious act."
To reinforce this, exercise machines have been placed around the classroom to power pumps that move the water between the underground storage areas.

Pareid designed the classroom in collaboration with students from Chulalongkorn University to be a flexible space that was appropriate to the Thai climate and did not rely on artificial cooling or lighting.
"Thai context is a bit tricky, as it deals with two types of extreme...