Community Spaces in Rohingya Refugee Response Building, Teknaf Architecture Photos

Community Spaces in Rohingya Refugee Response, Bangladesh

2 June 2022

Architects: Rizvi Hassan, Khwaja Fatma, Saad Ben Mostafa

Location: Teknaf, Cox’s Bazar District, Division of Chittagong, Bangladesh, South Asia

Community Spaces in Rohingya Refugee Response

Aerial view of the Shantikhana Women Friendly Space in Camp 4ext. The construction started before the design was finalised, allowing the local Rohingya workers to express their artisanal skills and artistic freedom:

Photos: Aga Khan Trust for Culture / Asif Salman (photographer)

Community Spaces in Rohingya Refugee Response in Bangladesh

Rather than separate projects, the six sustainably built structures in the world’s largest refugee camps, housing Rohingya fleeing Myanmar’s genocidal violence, are a collection of practice exercise: Each created scope for the next according to need. Much of the design occurred collaboratively in the field.

Aerial view of the Safe Space for Women and Girls in Camp 25. The activity areas and rooms are organised around an open courtyard, connecting them into one larger space:

A women-friendly space, very low to withstand cyclones, features a complex roof truss built by Rohingya bamboo workers without drawings or models.

Shantikhana Women Friendly Space in Camp 4ext: Eight main rooms of different shapes are arranged in a horse-shoe pattern around a central courtyard. A large roof made of bamboo and palm leaves covers all the rooms and interstitial areas, creating semioutdoor informal spaces:

A safe space offering practical support to women and girls employed local materials and an exterior scheme that avoids the disturbance caused to visiting elephants by the blues and pinks of standard camp structures.

The display centre in camp 11 provides Rohingya women with a facilty to create, showcase and sell handmade products to visitors. The open courtyard connects the production workshop and the dispay centre:

A facility for women to create and showcase their handmade products is built of bamboo and thatch. One community support centre uses colourful mattresses as roof insulation; another mixes natural materials with industrial ones; another is built around existing betel nut trees, resisting the tendency to deforestation.

The scarcity of land in the densely populated Camp 03 led the architects to expand vertically. The two-storied community centre hosts various training programmes, awareness sessions, legal and psycho-social counseling and activities to strengthen and protect the community:

The open courtyard of the Safe Space for Women and Girls in Camp 25 connects all the surrounding rooms. The shelter provides women of all age with sanitary facilities as well as a place for them to create and share:

The Safe Space for Rohingya Women and Girls was designed with basic materials. The woven bamboo, straw thatching and tarpaulin used for construction could easily be sourced and would be less dangerous in the event of a cyclone, a frequent phenomenon in the region:

The Bhalukia Community Centre serves the Bangladeshi host communities who were directly or indirectly affected by the Rohingya influx. The centre stands in an areca nut grove where all trees were preserved.

The Hindupara Integrated Community Centre was designed with a steel structure, in order to propose an alternative to bamboo. Although the latter can be sourced locally, its harvesting and treatment requires time and proper planning, a luxury in the field of emergency building.

Community Spaces in Rohingya Refugee Response Women Friendly Space Camp 4ex:

Community Spaces in Rohingya Refugee Response Safe Space for Women & Girls Camp 25:

Community Spaces in Rohingya Refugee Response Bangladesh – Building Information

Award Cycle: 2020-2022 Cycle
Status: Shortlisted
Country of origin: Bangladesh
Location: Teknaf, Bangladesh

Client: BRAC HCMP, ActionAid
Architect: Rizvi Hassan, Khwaja Fatma, Saad Ben Mostafa
Completed: 2019

Photographs: Asif Salman (photographer)

2022 Aga Khan Award for Architecture Shortlist

Community Spaces in Rohingya Refugee Response Bangladesh images / information received 020622 from the Aga Khan Award for Architecture – AKAA

Location: Teknaf, Bangladesh, Asia

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