No matter what or when adversity falls, it can never dampen the human spirit that remains stubborn and relentless even when all seems lost and dark. Similar is the case with Marina Tabassum, a revered Bangladeshi architect who built modular Khudi Bari (meaning small house) with her team as an answer to the flooding in the country that leaves many homeless. It is an innovative, low-cost, flood-resistant structure that gives people of Bangladesh a potential shelter when they are forced to leave their homes due to recurring floods.
While many look away when something bad happens around the world, some brave souls take initiative to bring change. Marina, taking into consideration the people of Bangladesh living on the banks of river Meghna, built her first Khudi Bari during the pandemic, changing the lives of many.
Now part of furniture company Vitra, Khudi Bari brings a new hope to people. It even has been installed at Vitra campus in Weil am Rhein, Germany, as thoughtful architecture. The modular design of the structure provides a flood-stricken community with a roof over their heads and can be easily moved from one place to another at the time of crisis.
Standing as a testament of hope and resilience, the Khudi Bari provides easy assembly and dismantling by hand at the time of urgency. That is made possible due to its lightweight construction with bamboo and steel joints. The upper body is enclosed by a metal roof and screens on the sides that facilitate reconstruction and relocation to a safer place when required.
It is constructed in different sizes including 64 square feet, 100 square feet, and 144 square feet in single or dual-level modular house that not only offer more space, but remains a preferable shelter during flooding. Standing on sturdy stilts, the house provides a safe spot to wait out the rampaging waters.
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What makes it low-cost and sustainable are locally scoured natural materials that are cost efficient and eco-conscious, lowering carbon emission. Besides being reliable as a monsoon shelter, it is in harmony with nature.
Marina is raising awareness through her exemplary work about the burgeoning effects of climate change on people and their surroundings. What started as a necessity, now is an ongoing revolution with over hundreds of Khudi Bari already installed and more to come.
Even bigger structures are now being constructed in an environmentally challenged regions in Bangladesh to cater to the majority of unprotected population. Challenging the way we see architecture, this piece of sustainable architecture is a paradigm of what a simple structure can do for people in the time of need.
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