Barefoot standing: A college set up to train poor rural people in appropriate skills, and to demystify modern technology, embodies the institute's philosophy in its construction.

Tilonia is a village between Ajmer and Jaipur in Rajasthan with all the problems of that hot and dry part of the world. In 1986, Bunker Roy founded a settlement which was to break with the predominantly middleclass, urban and academic orientation of the Indian social-work tradition, one that would introduce professional people to the realities of harsh rural life, and get them to interact with and learn from local people as Gandhi proposed.

The Barefoot College is founded on five principles. First, equality: all members of the settlement are equal, regardless of sex, class, education, or caste. Second, collectivity: everyone is involved in collective decision-making. Third, self reliance: the aim is to help people to combine and work together to develop the community. Fourth, decentralization: the Barefoot programme is committed to local decision-making, and grassroots level. The fifth principle is austerity: the staff lead a simple life committed to generating a close community and a stimulating, creative environment. Some 90 per cent of the staff are of rural origin, coming from local villages. They have set up night schools in villages round about to offer education suitable for rural life in Rajasthan, rather than the alien curriculum offered by official schools.

One of the main physical improvements created by the Barefoot Architects' programme is the rainwater harvesting programme, which is not confined to Tilonia, but developed in several neighbouring villages as well. The water table has dropped and ground water is often brackish, so arrangements have been made to collect rain to sustain the community for a whole year, even when monsoon rains are low. Materials for the water storage vessels include ferro-cement and reinforced concrete, some of the few Onon-indigenous ingredients in the scheme. Apparently the system works well in Tilonia, but some neighbouring villages complain of inadequate supply. The technology is a modern adaptation of centuries-old methods.

The college campus itself includes administrative buildings, a medical block, library and dining hall, guest house and craft centre, as well as residential accommodation. It is arranged in traditional courtyard format with verandahs for residential and administrative buildings. Construction methods are traditional: earth bricks, stone, gravel, cement and sand, with flat or thatched roofs. Steel RSJs provide the wide spans of the dining hall. The campus was constructed by an illiterate local farmer with 12 others. Ground level courts are beautifully decorated in traditional manner. Village women worked as labourers and material carriers on the project, but in general, the lot of women has been improved greatly, because the water programme has obviated long journies to distant wells. More girls now receive at least primary education.

The Barefoot Homes for the Homeless programme has produced two hundred houses for the poor since 1986. Most have two rooms and are formed as rectangular or L-shaped blocks, often with walled courtyards. As the Barefoot housing programme has dwindled, its examples have inspired local villagers to take their own initiatives.

In keeping with the association's beliefs, all electricity is solar powered. There is no need for air conditioning in any of the campus buildings because of thermal mass and good ventilation. Larger spaces are cooled by large ceiling fans. The sun powers 20 computers, a water-testing laboratory, a rural telephone exchange and the night schools. Other uses of modern technology include geodesic domes (one covers the pathology laboratory). They are made of agricultural scrap, and the technology has been adopted by neighbouring villages.

Ralph Mills-Tettey, the technical assessor, commented the Barefoot College projects have been uplifting for their users, and have given them a sense of dignity and self-confidence'.