In 2013 I travelled to Bangladesh to take part in a flood preparedness workshop, with other architects and engineers helping local communities to build flood resistant dwellings in both urban and rural settings.

Working with local NGO SAFE Banglandesh in the poorest sections of the community, in the JBM Informal Settlement in Dinajpur and the rural district of Sunderban, we constructed model buildings for chosen beneficiaries using modified vernacular techniques and local materials like mud and bamboo. SAFE do ongoing work in this area and in 2013/14 completed a project for safe and sustainable latrines with the late Paul Pholeros of Health Habitat.

Design strategies included building a solid plinth strengthened with cement and constructing 2 storey dwellings which enabled families to have a greater usable floor area and some living and storage space unlikely to be inundated during seasonal flooding.

Construction strategies included using rammed mud blocks, fortifying mud render mix with 5% cement and ensuring bamboo was treated for pest resistance before use to prolong its life by about 15 years.

This project taught me much about the extraordinary resilience of the Bangladeshi people and the benefit of simple low cost soultions that are easily understood and replicated by the local community. This work is very similar to that done by Yasmeen Lari and her Barefoot Social Architecture movement in Pakistan.