Rajkumari Ratnavati Girls' School Case Study: Oval Plan, Stone and Heat (Diana Kellogg)

The Rajkumari Ratnavati Girls' School is an oval school of hand-carved sandstone at Kanoi village in the Thar Desert, about 37 km from Jaisalmer city. Diana Kellogg Architects of New York designed it pro bono for the non-profit CITTA, local craftsmen built it from 2018, and classes began in 2021. This case study covers its plan, section, materials, the cooling claims against what has been measured, its reception and lessons for Indian designers.

If you are documenting this school for a studio or thesis, our field checklist for architecture case studies sets out what to record on site, and our list of B.Arch thesis topics by typology has school and climate-responsive topics that this building fits.

The brief and the client

The school began with Michael Daube, an artist who founded the non-profit CITTA. Writing in The Guardian in October 2020, Amrit Dhillon reported Daube's reasoning in his own words: "through an economic avenue, I could entice these communities to send their girls to school." The idea was a centre, not a single building: a school for girls, a cooperative where craftspeople would teach weaving and printing to the pupils' mothers and aunts, and a market selling their work.

CITTA calls it the GYAAN Center, from the Sanskrit for knowledge. Its own site lists three parts: the school, a women's cooperative, and a Central Hall for markets and exhibitions. The school serves girls from families below the poverty line in a district where Architectural Record put female literacy at 36%. Daube told The Better India he wanted "a monumental school, where parents would feel proud to send their daughters to study."

The brief that follows is unusual for a rural school: cheap to run, with no air conditioning; buildable by local hands; and visibly special, because the building was meant to persuade families. Education is free: Gaon Connection reported free books, uniforms, transport and lunch in 2023.

Site and context: Kanoi, in the Thar

The school stands at Kanoi village, 37 km from Jaisalmer city according to Gaon Connection, near the Sam dunes (The Better India puts it about six minutes' drive from them). Pupils come from Kanoi and nearby settlements including Salkha, Sam, Bhilon ki Basti and Meghwalon ki Basti, from families of farmers, camel and goat herders and casual labourers. A school bus collects them in the morning and takes them home at 1.30 pm.

The climate is hot desert. Reporters give summer peaks of about 50 °C (AFP in 2024, The Better India in 2021); these are their figures, not station records for the site. Two other facts matter for design: sand carried by wind, and short, heavy monsoon rain.

The local material is Jaisalmer's yellow sandstone, the stone of the fort and the old city, and the local skill is carving it. Kellogg told Architectural Record that "Stone was so abundant and the craftsmen so skilled, it was really the only option." For how this stone is used in ordinary houses today, see our guide to building materials for houses in Rajasthan.

Rajkumari Ratnavati Girls' School concept: why an oval

Kellogg has given two reasons for the oval, and both are on record. The first is symbolic. She told Dezeen in May 2021, "I looked at feminine symbols across cultures and specifically symbols of strength," and "landed on this oval shape that is representative of femininity." The firm's project page also ties the curves to the curvilinear forms of Jaisalmer Fort.

The second is climatic. The project text published on Divisare says the building is oriented to use the prevailing wind while keeping out the most sun, and that the ellipse helps create a "cooling panel of airflow." Kellogg also told Dezeen that she "lessened the width so we could have a canopy cover the open space in the hot months."

The wider GYAAN Center was planned as three ovals. Divisare's text names the school, the Medha (a performance and exhibition space with a library and museum) and the Women's Cooperative, with a central hall linking the school and the cooperative. As of November 2026, CITTA's Central Hall page still describes that hall in the future tense, to be located next to the existing school.

Rajkumari Ratnavati Girls' School plan and zoning

The plan is a ring. Dezeen describes an exterior perimeter wall, an interior wall enclosing the classrooms, and a central oval courtyard; Architectural Record counts 10 classrooms and a computer centre. Rooms are linked by winding corridors and open onto the courtyard through wooden doors, and stairs lead up to a roof terrace used for play. CITTA's school page adds a library.

Read as zoning, the plan does three things. The outer wall faces the desert, the sun and the sand, and takes the weather. The ring of classrooms sits in between and borrows light and air from both sides. The courtyard is the one large shared room: shaded, enclosed, and a place to be outdoors within the school's own walls.

The architects have not published a drawing set; the project pages on ArchDaily and Divisare carry the photographs by Vinay Panjwani.

Section and structure

The section is where the climate strategy lives. From the published descriptions, a cut through one side of the ring runs, from outside in:

• Outer wall: AFP describes "thick rubble walls" that help bounce back heat, and the project text a carved sandstone veneer; AFP also mentions vented walls that shade while letting air through.
• Jaali parapet: a perforated stone screen that rises above the roof. Kellogg told The Better India that "The canopy and the jalis filter the sand. They keep the sun and heat out."
• Classroom: lime-plastered inside, with high clerestory openings (Dezeen) that AFP says let hot air escape, and doors to the courtyard. The school supervisor, Rajinder Singh Bhati, told AFP simply: "There is cross-ventilation."
• Roof terrace: tiled (AFP reports white tiles that reflect sunlight; Divisare's text says recycled ceramic tile), under a solar canopy on a steel frame that powers the lights and fans and shades the play area.

No structural description has been published beyond the credit: the AZ Awards name New York engineers Silman. Two reports, by The Better India (2021) and Euronews (2022), also mention a geothermal cooling system that runs at night; neither gives details, the architect's own published texts do not describe one, so we leave it out of the documented design.

Materials and construction: who built it

Architectural Record and the AZ Awards both report that local craftsmen built it, many of them fathers of the pupils. The project text on Divisare names Dabri veneer stone and Jodhpur stone for the exterior, carved on site using the Dabri masonry technique with alternating courses, and says 95% of the materials were local. Carved stone also forms the basins, rain and sun canopies, flower medallions, recessed light fittings and downspouts.

Inside, the walls are lime-plastered. Assistant architect Riya Bissa told Gaon Connection, "we used the local sandstone and then lime to plaster the walls," and the contractor told The Better India the lime helps insulate the building. Furniture is local rosewood with charpai-woven seating.

The Better India reported that planning started in 2010, Kellogg began design in 2014, construction began in October 2018 and took about a year. The opening, set for March 2020 according to The Guardian, was pushed back by the pandemic. Sabyasachi Mukherjee designed the uniform, free of charge, in Ajrak block print.

Light, climate and services: the "cooler inside" question

Students often search for the school's inside temperature, so it is worth being exact. The building has no air conditioning. Its strategies are mass, shade, ventilation and orientation. The figures that circulate online, though, are of very different kinds.

• "20 to 30 degrees cooler": repeated in viral articles such as Upworthy (February 2026) with no unit, no person and no instrument named.
• "As much as 20 per cent lower": from an AFP report filed from the school in August 2024, with no readings or source given.
• 5 to 8 °C below outdoor air at peak summer: a computer simulation in IES VE by Anil Jaswani of Design2Occupancy, who was brought in through the architect's team. IES published it in July 2025 as an award story. It modelled the sandstone's thermal mass, solar radiation and shading, but states that no CFD airflow modelling was done, and it reports no on-site readings to check the model against.

We found no published measurement: no data loggers, no indoor and outdoor series, no study by a university or by CITTA. In short: the building is designed to be cooler, staff and reporters describe the rooms as cool and well ventilated, and one simulation predicts 5 to 8 °C below outdoor peaks. That is a design claim with a model behind it, not a measured result.

Services are simple and visible. Rooftop solar supplies the school's power, according to Gaon Connection and AFP. Rainwater from the roof is piped to a tank (Gaon Connection), and the contractor told The Better India the courtyard can harvest 3.5 lakh litres. Icon and the AIA citation also mention recycling grey water. Daylight comes through the clerestories and the courtyard doors; the IES study says classrooms stayed well lit in the daytime without electric light, again as a simulated result.

Reception: awards, numbers and a flood

The design press took the school up quickly in 2021: Architectural Record, Dezeen, ArchDaily and Icon all published it before it opened. It won in the AZ Awards 2021 (Buildings Under 1,000 sq m), where juror Gilles Saucier called it "a pure expression of its function," and received an AIA Architecture Award in 2023. It was longlisted for the Dezeen Awards 2023.

Two things temper the story. First, numbers: the building was planned for 400 girls, but CITTA's own page says it began with 140 in Classes 1 to 4, adding a class each year; Gaon Connection counted 140 in 2023 and AFP about 170 in 2024. Some coverage, such as Euronews in 2022, still describes more than 400 pupils as if enrolled. Second, water. AFP reported in August 2024 that the school "was designed for a drier climate" and that a long-dormant river overflowed that monsoon, washing away soil on one side of the school. Rajan Rawal of CEPT University told AFP that "Disasters like heatwaves and floods impact the structural stability." We found no later report on repairs.

What designers in India can take from it today

This is our reading, not the architects'.

1. Design around the trade that is there. The choice of stone came from the craftsmen, not a catalogue, and the carved details (basins, downspouts, jaali) were where their skill was spent. On a rural project, ask early what local builders do best and draw for it. Our guide to jaali design covers sizes and materials for smaller jobs.
2. Shape the open space for shade, not just the building. Kellogg says she lessened the width of the open space so a canopy could cover it. Courtyard width against the sun angle is a quick sketch-section check on any hot-climate project.
3. Design for the flood as well as the heat. In the desert the monsoon is short but heavy, and this site was hit by a river that had been dry for years. Plinth height, drainage paths and old watercourses belong in the site study.
4. Measure, and publish. A few data loggers for one summer would have settled the temperature question. If you claim a building is cooler, put numbers with a method behind the claim, and label simulations as simulations.

Visiting the school

This is a working school for young children, not a monument. CITTA's Visit Us page says guests must pre-register, visits are not allowed during school hours, and groups are limited to 50 people; staff confirm the date and reserve a slot after you write to them. The page prints no timings or prices. For study visits, photograph the building only, never the pupils.

Planning a school or a climate-led building of your own? Find an architect on MOA.

FAQ

Who designed the Rajkumari Ratnavati Girls' School?

Diana Kellogg of Diana Kellogg Architects, New York, working pro bono for the non-profit CITTA, founded by Michael Daube. Silman were the structural engineers and Kareem Khan the contractor, per the AZ Awards and AIA credits.

Where is the Rajkumari Ratnavati Girls' School?

At Kanoi village in Jaisalmer district, Rajasthan, about 37 km from Jaisalmer city towards the Sam dunes, according to Gaon Connection. Some project pages give the location as Salkha or simply Jaisalmer.

What material is the Rajkumari Ratnavati Girls' School made of?

Hand-carved local sandstone outside (Dabri veneer stone and Jodhpur stone, per the project text), with lime plaster on the inside walls, a tiled roof terrace and a steel-framed solar canopy.

How much cooler is it inside?

No measured figure has been published. A computer simulation by Design2Occupancy, published by IES in 2025, predicts indoor temperatures 5 to 8 °C below outdoor air at peak summer. Popular figures such as "20 to 30 degrees cooler" have no named source.

What is the area of the Rajkumari Ratnavati Girls' School?

Dezeen gives 836 sq m and Architectural Record "nearly 9,000 square feet," which agree. Arquitectura Viva lists 1,662 sq m; the sources do not explain the difference.

Sources

• Architectural Record, Kara Mavros: Diana Kellogg Designs Rajkumari Ratnavati Girls School in India, 30 April 2021 (accessed 4 Nov 2026)
• Dezeen, James Parkes: Diana Kellogg Architects creates oval-shaped school in India's Thar Desert, 15 May 2021 (accessed 4 Nov 2026)
• Divisare: The GYAAN Center, Rajkumari Ratnavati Girls School, project text, 10 March 2023 (accessed 4 Nov 2026)
• Diana Kellogg Architects: The Rajkumari Ratnavati Girls' School, project page (accessed 4 Nov 2026)
• ArchDaily: The Rajkumari Ratnavati Girl's School / Diana Kellogg Architects, 29 April 2021 (accessed 4 Nov 2026)
• Arquitectura Viva: Rajkumari Ratnavati Girls' School, Jaisalmer (accessed 4 Nov 2026)
• Azure, AZ Awards: AZ Awards 2021 Winner: Rajkumari Ratnavati Girls School (accessed 4 Nov 2026)
• American Institute of Architects: The Rajkumari Ratnavati Girl's School, 2023 Architecture Award (accessed 4 Nov 2026)
• CITTA India: Our Story, The Rajkumari Ratnavati Girls School, Central Hall and Visit Us (accessed 4 Nov 2026)
• The Guardian, Amrit Dhillon: 'I feel free here': how a miracle girls' school was built in India's 'golden city', 30 October 2020, as republished by Yahoo News UK (accessed 4 Nov 2026)
• The Better India, Himanshu Nitnaware: Rajkumari Ratnavati Girls School, Jaisalmer, 18 January 2021 (accessed 4 Nov 2026)
• Gaon Connection, Kuldeep Chhangani: A cool school in the Thar desert provides free education to rural girls, 24 August 2023 (accessed 4 Nov 2026)
• AFP, via Oman Observer: Indian desert school's unique design offers respite from heat, 23 August 2024 (accessed 4 Nov 2026)
• IES, Suzanne Wallace: VE User Asia winner: D2O, 7 July 2025 (accessed 4 Nov 2026)
• Euronews, Charlotte Elton: Inside this Indian eco-school, 9 June 2022 (accessed 4 Nov 2026)
• Icon: Diana Kellogg's girls' school in the Indian desert, 25 May 2021 (accessed 4 Nov 2026)
• Upworthy, Evan Porter: A new school for girls in India stays cool in 120 degree desert heat without air conditioning, 10 February 2026 (accessed 4 Nov 2026)