second Place, Bangladesh
Architect:Kashef Mahboob Chowdhury
Project:Friendship Centre
The low-lying site is located in rural northern Bangladesh and is under threat of flooding. An extensive program
for the meeting centre with very limited fund meant that raising the structures above flood level by eight
feet was not an option. The final design relies on a surrounding embankment for flood protection while
building directly on existing low land. Rainwater is collected in internal pools and the design relies on natural
ventilation and cooling, being facilitated by courtyards, pools and the earth covering on roofs.
The centre brings together some of the poorest in the country yet in the extreme limitation of means was
a search for the luxury of light and shadows; of the economy and generosity of small spaces; of the joy of
movement and discovery in the bare and the essential.
