This thesis explores self-build solutions in Bangladesh, a country experiencing rapid urbanisation, the erosion of rural building traditions, along with a shortage of qualified architects. It draws on rural construction practices and Christopher Alexander’s pattern theory to provide people with tools to build safely and competently for themselves, reducing the need for extensive input and oversight from architects. Bangladesh is one of the most densely populated countries in the world, and in urban areas, many are forced to live in informal settlements. According to a survey by the Commonwealth Association of Architects, there is only one architect per 50,000 people in Bangladesh. At the same time, rural traditions that once enabled self-building are being lost—or are no longer applicable—in dense urban contexts, where more modern materials and techniques are often necessary.

This thesis explores the interactions between the architect Christopher Alexander and the visionary grouping of architects known as Team 10, with a focus on Alexander's participation in one of Team 10's famous meetingsa t the Abbaye de Royaumont in 1962. Both Alexander and Team 10 went on to make important contributions to architectural history and theory. Both were motivated by a critical appraisal of the high modernism of CIAM (Congrès Internationaux d’Architecture Moderne) to search for new solutions. This paper uncovers some striking parallels in their thinking and approaches, both explicit and implicit. Yet after 1962 their thinking took them in different and increasingly opposing directions. Questions explored include why these differences came about, to what extent they were fundamental, and what a continued collaboration might have achieved.