Continual land accretion and erosion in the constantly evolving Bengal delta influences the:
Population
Settlement patterns
Socio-cultural fabric of Bangladesh
My research investigates the possibilities of the urban expansion of Dhaka on areas of land that cannot be inhabited due to constant flooding and unstable ground to accommodate people working on the brick factories on the periphery of the capital. The aim of the proposal is to establish a technique that deals with the landscape reformation in order to allow the brick factories to operate all year round by providing dry land, as well as propose a new inhabitation model that will accommodate the continuously growing numbers of population (1000 per day).
In order to achieve the above I m proposing a prototype self sustain city in south west of Dhaka on an area where constant flooding of the Buriganga river have rendered it uninhabitable. The study experiments with the possibilities of articulating the natural process of sedimentation in order to create areas of dry land as well as harvesting energy generated from the flooding process in order for the city to be self sustained.
The proposed inhabitation strategy aims at transforming the house on stilts; a vernacular type of building into a contemporary inhabitation mechanism that responds to the complexity and the extreme growth of the capital. The study will explore the possibilities of using local materials (bamboo, jute) and existing techniques to create a prototype unit that can be transformed to respond to climatic parameters as well as multiplied and added to create clusters that will form the new urban fabric. Finally the proposed morphological system will be informed by the newly formed landscape.
Material research will take place in two phases:
• Reforming the landscape by articulating the sedimentation process to provide dry land.
• Inhabiting the reformed landscape with contemporary typologies that respond to the density.
The anticipated outcome is a prototype city where the ecology of river deltas becomes the industry that builds land, informs new urban typology and generates energy. That could potentially allow Dhaka to relax from mass migration, booming populations and globalized trade that are swelling the city.
The results of this research will be disseminated through a publication of AA Cybernetic Insurgence as well as exhibited at the Architectural Association "Projects Review” 2012.