One thing is certain: the meeting centre in Afghanistan will be built. Apart from that, practically everything has changed in the original "Polynational" (1) project that won the architecture and civil engineering departments' competition for ETH's 150-year Jubilee next year. The reasons for the changes are partly political and partly the result of a recent journey Ivica Brnic and Wolfgang Rossbauer made to Afghanistan. They–together with Florian Graf–make up the project team (2).

Brnic and Rossbauer, who are both studying architecture at ETH, journeyed to Afghanistan in September accompanied, amongst others, by Albert A. Stahel from the ETH Military Academy (3). On the day they arrived in Kabul they already met Sharif Fayez, the Afghan Minister of Science and Education. He pledged his support and assured them that the project would be incorporated into the university system of Afghanistan.

Optimistic that their new plans for Afghanistan will come to fruition: ETH students Florian Graf, Ivica Brnic and Wolfgang Rossbauer. large

Construction site right next to the university

The following day the group drove for six hours on an adventurous road (according to Swiss standards) to the 150 kilometre distant Bamiyan, the goal of their journey. Here, at the foot of the rockface, where the Buddha statues, destroyed by the Taliban, had stood, their next meeting took place. The Swiss travellers were greeted by their hosts, on the one hand, professors and students from the region's university, and, on the other, the Governor of Bamiyan. Here too, the extremely guest-friendly Afghans promised their support and also confirmed the plot of land foreseen for the construction. Afterwards, the visitors were given a guided tour of the university and the approximately 5,000 square metres that have been reserved for the centre. A more thorough examination of the plot was carried out on the following day.

The University of Bamiyan turned out to be a "mini-campus" comprising three buildings for administration and teaching. They also house a modest library and a computer room with around a dozen computers. The university's curriculum is run on a credit system and offers agricultural sciences and pedagogics. The ETH students were able to see for themselves that the university, which was not reconstructed until 2003, was in good condition.

Within sight of the famous rockface where the giant Buddha statues used to stand is where the ETH students plan to build: (Picture: Brnic-Graf-Rossbauer). large

Call for agricultural laboratory

During further discussions with native students, the Swiss heard about their wishes for the new building. It emerged that apart from the planned Internet room, what they wished for most was an agricultural laboratory. Some students also were interested in the possibility of studying in Switzerland for a semester. One became keenly aware that the Afghans' interest was not limited to the building of a centre for encounters, but that they were also eager to exchange specialist knowledge and know-how with ETH, explains Rossbauer.

During their sojourn the Swiss group met again with the Governor of Bamiyan, a representative of DEZA (SDC, the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation) and, in Kabul, even the country's vice-president, Karim Khalili, who belongs to the Hazara population group, as do most people in Bamiyan. Overall, it became apparent that the project could count on wide support.

Not a Tower of Bamiyan

Notwithstanding the goodwill they met with wherever they went, the architecture students came to realise that their project would need to be revised. While it had been clear even before the journey that the location would be at Bamiyan, instead of the less safe Kandahar, the new local conditions and wishes made a re-design of the project necessary. The plan for a tower-like structure, for instance, had to be dropped as the local construction laws don't allow anything higher than two storeys to be built.

At any rate, the meeting centre should not look like a strange implant in the landscape, says Brnic, and its purpose should be reflected in an integrative style. His fellow student, Florian Graf, adds that, as the architects of the building, they wanted it to tie into local cultural history. There were also very practical problems to resolve, like securing the building and drink water treatment. They want to use as much building material as possible from the region and only import certain components.

Asked about the timetable for construction, the "Castle in the air" winners hope that they can finalise a new design by the end of the year and that construction can begin next spring. The odds for this have increased recently in so far as the democratic election of Hamid Karzai as President of Afghanistan promises political stability. This heightens the chances that the project can be realised in the relatively peaceful region of Bamiyan.