In Bangladesh, climate change causes frequent flooding, forcing countless people to find new homes. In response, Bangladeshi architect Marina Tabassum (born 1968) and her team have developed the Khudi Bari (small house): a low-cost structure that can be assembled, disassembled, transported and reassembled in another location by the inhabitants themselves.
This publication contains texts, photographs and illustrations of a Khudi Bari erected on the Vitra Campus in Weil am Rhein, Germany, as an example of a concrete response to problems exacerbated by the climate crisis.
Says Tabassum: "Inspiration for this mobile house is rooted in the vernacular style of dwelling that can be found in Bangladesh. These structures are created in the manner of a flatpack system and are generally built along the majestic Padma, Jamuna and Meghna rivers. The houses have a wooden frame structure and corrugated metal facades and roofs, which can be dismantled and relocated in the aftermath of riverbank erosion and reassembled by their owners once they have found a new place to build."
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