Two thousand ice-cream tubs form the walls of this small community library in Bandung, Indonesia, and some of them have been perforated to display a subtle message (+ slideshow).

The Microlibrary was designed by the local office of architecture firm Shau as the first prototype for a series of small libraries it intends to build across Indonesia.
Situated in a small public square in the city's Taman Bima neighbourhood, it provides a space for teaching and other activities aimed at combatting the country's high illiteracy and school dropout rates.

For the facades, the project team tried to find an affordable, locally available material that would provide shade whilst enabling air and natural light to reach the interior.

Related story: Waste House by BBM is "UK's first permanent building made from rubbish"
The initial idea was to use white and translucent plastic jerrycans, but these were not available in the quantities required at the time of construction.
Used ice-cream tubs provided the eventual solution, as they could be purchased in bulk. An added benefit of the tubs is that they are stable when the bottoms are removed, meaning they can also be used to bring in ventilation.

The plastic tubs are fixed to vertical steel ribs and are angled outwards to provide an effective rain screen. Translucent sliding doors mounted behind the facade can be closed to create a completely impermeable facade during more severe tropical storms.
The architects...