This graduation thesis is divided into four parts. The first part explores the existing culture, through local materials and an analysis of housing in Bangladesh. Then, it looks into which waste streams have potential for the construction industry, to then optimize existing local materials by incorporating these waste streams. Lastly, it explores how to use these optimized materials in the design of a high-density housing complex that can help address the housing crisis and be resilient to current and future climate challenges.

The thesis explores the feasibility and optimization of local materials in Bangladesh, focusing on three main categories: existing materials, raw materials, and innovative alternatives. The study places particular emphasis on the brick industry, a cornerstone of the country’s construction sector, which accounts for over 1% of global brick production and employs approximately 1.6 million people. However, this industry is also a major contributor to air pollution, topsoil depletion, and socio-economic vulnerabilities, particularly among rural cottage industries. Sustainability within affordable housing is a harder task to achieve as the people in need of affordable housing have more immediate needs. This makes it our responsibility as designers to design with social and environmental sustainability in mind, making sustainability a natural by-product instead of a separate challenge.

In Bangladesh, rapid urbanization, rural-to-urban migration, and climate change converge to intensify the vulnerability of slum residents, particularly in regions like Sylhet. Slums are characterized by overcrowding, substandard housing, and limited access to essential services, leaving residents highly exposed to disease, poverty, and natural disasters. Climate change compounds these challenges through rising temperatures, shifting rainfall patterns, and increasingly frequent floods and cyclones that destroy precarious housing and disrupt livelihoods. Despite the urgency, many government-led relocation and upgrading initiatives have been ineffective, often failing to account for local needs and causing further social and economic disruption.

This research explores the urgent need for affordable, climate-resilient housing solutions tailored to Sylhet’s slum residents, with a focus on in-situ development that avoids forced relocation. It examines how housing can be designed to be both culturally appropriate and adaptable to the residents’ livelihoods, using locally available materials and construction techniques that enhance flood resilience. The study seeks to define affordability in this context, identify design features that improve climate resilience, and propose implementation strategies that maintain community stability during construction. By centering the specific needs and aspirations of slum residents, this research aims to inform practical, sustainable, and inclusive housing models that strengthen community resilience to climate change while addressing urban poverty in Bangladesh.

This master thesis explores the housing challenges of the Lakkatura Tea Garden community in Sylhet, Bangladesh, one of the country’s most marginalized and segregated populations. The project responds to critical issues such as overcrowding, poor housing conditions, lack of privacy, and limited access to essential services. It recognizes the historical and socio-political dynamics of segregation in Bangladesh.

The proposed design improves living conditions by addressing these inequalities while preserving traditional spatial and social structures. It introduces a flexible and inclusive masterplan comprising various dwelling types, communal spaces and tourist accommodations. The design emphasizes adaptability to accommodate family growth and varied needs, while promoting social cohesion and a strong sense of belonging through carefully structured communal, shared, and private spaces.

Throughout the course of the graduation the student developed a mixed-use building complex for the Hawkers Market site in the city center of Sylhet, Bangladesh. Working within the scope of the Global Housing studio, the focus was set on creating a building composed primarily of dwellings that works in the challenging climate and socio-economic context of the location. Within this scope special emphasis was laid on researching and designing the implementation of the architectural concept of “incremental housing” within a high-rise structure.

The results of the research into similar projects and relevant case studies informed the design. This design integrates a conventional “ready-built” portion, catering to middle- to high-income residents, with a more unconventional open-volume section designed for lower-income residents. The latter consists of completely empty duplex units stacked vertically, forming a series of unoccupied building plots in the sky. The innovation lies in how the two parts of the building are interconnected, benefiting one another while maintaining completely segregated circulation paths for different user groups.

This project examines the entangled relationship between humanitarianism, colonial history, and the garment industry in Bangladesh. What began as a reflection on the ethics of foreign intervention and the power dynamics that continue to shape global labor systems evolved into a more specific exploration of housing for garment workers inside of these power dynamics. It questions how we, as outsiders, can meaningfully engage in contexts shaped by histories we did not live, but are nevertheless complicit in through the products we consume.
The research traces the path from Bangladesh’s rich textile heritage to the present-day realities of fast fashion, where exploitation persists under new names. It unpacks how colonial patterns of extraction have reconfigured into modern systems of labor and aid, where garment workers, often women from rural areas, are caught in cycles of migration, dependency, and vulnerability.
Against this backdrop, the project focuses on the reopening of the Sylhet Textile Mill as a site for reimagining housing for workers. Drawing from both rural housing traditions and lessons from existing factory environments, it proposes an alternative model that addresses the realistic conditions shaping workers’ lives, not as passive recipients of aid, but as people navigating a deeply uneven global system.

Many people believe that urban children enjoy a higher quality of life than their rural counterparts. Paradoxically, impoverished urban children often face more severe living conditions and lower standards of living than rural children. Bangladesh has recently experienced rapid urbanization, with increasing numbers of families migrating from rural areas to cities. As a result, many poor urban children end up living in slums, where they are among the most vulnerable, directly affected by the harsh realities of slum life. These challenges not only impact their childhood but also limit their future opportunities as they grow older.
While many studies have addressed these problems from various perspectives, there has been little discussion about solutions, especially architectural ones. Additionally, most research has focused on Dhaka’s slums, even though cities like Sylhet face equally severe slum issues. Consequently, children in Sylhet’s slums suffer from dangerous living conditions, which have been largely overlooked.
This study prioritizes an architectural approach to solving the problems faced by urban poor children, focusing specifically on Sylhet city, to address the challenges of children living in non-capital city slums. Through the housing design research, the study aims to improve the overall well-being and living conditions of impoverished urban children, while ultimately providing better opportunities for their families. The goal of the research is to meet the need of children and create child-friendly neiborhoods through new housing design.

Housing for climate-displaced communities has long been limited to temporary solutions, often overlooking the long-term needs and realities of those affected. This thesis challenges that norm by proposing a new standard for permanent housing in the face of recurring displacement. Set in the flood-prone village of Shonatola, Bangladesh, the project engages directly with the lived experiences of vulnerable communities to offer a flexible, incremental housing model.
Designed to evolve with its residents, the proposal uses a hybrid structure that is centered around adaptability. Each home integrates pucca (permanent) and kutcha (temporary) components, allowing families to expand and modify their living spaces over time, based on need and resources.
More than just shelter, this project reimagines housing as a framework for long-term resilience—deeply rooted in local knowledge, environmentally responsive, and socially inclusive. It offers a path forward for rebuilding not just homes, but a community in the face of climate uncertainty.

As Sylhet, Bangladesh, experiences unprecedented urban growth, the tension between rapid housing provision and cultural continuity becomes increasingly acute. This graduation project investigates how the adaptive intelligence of vernacular Sylheti architecture can be combined with modern construction techniques to create affordable, resilient, and culturally responsive housing.

Focusing on the redevelopment of the historic Hawkers Market, the project proposes a hybrid design framework that merges elevated, flood-resilient concrete structures with spatial features drawn from traditional homes, such as courtyards, verandas, and modular layouts that accommodate evolving family needs. By layering a clear hierarchy of spaces, from public commercial spines to private dwelling terraces, the proposal supports both community interaction and individual privacy.

Extensive research underpins the design, including fieldwork, climatic analysis, and case studies of contemporary housing models. Drawing on the principles of John Habraken’s open frameworks, the project challenges the rigidity of standardized construction by embedding opportunities for incremental adaptation and resident participation within a contemporary structural system.

A cross-subsidization strategy enables higher-income residential and commercial components to fund affordable housing units for low-income groups, fostering an inclusive urban fabric.

Ultimately, this project demonstrates how bridging vernacular architecture and modern construction can produce housing that is not only technically efficient and environmentally responsive but also socially rooted and capable of evolving with the lives of its residents.

Bangladesh, a riverine country shaped by the yearly monsoon, where dense cities continue to grow as people leave the flooded rural areas in search of shelter and income.

Situated along the Surma River in Sylhet, a city in the north of Bangladesh, this project explores how to design within an unfamiliar context, with the temporality of the monsoon in mind. The site, currently an informal settlement of Hindu and Muslim communities, floods each year as water flows into their houses and daily life moves onto the streets.

Acknowledging the position of being an outsider and the generations of experience in living with the monsoon, the research took a ‘learning from’-perspective. By analysing how people build, live, and adapt to the water, these practices were mapped in detail to understand patterns and principles. This became the foundation for the design; building in clusters with shared courtyards, keeping the dwellings close to the ground floor, integrating Bangladesh-specific elements into the floorplans and making room for the monsoon in the landscape. A raised plinth protects the buildings during high water, allowing life to continue even during wet season.

Rather than relying on imported resources, the design uses local materials so that the project’s investment flows directly into the community, supporting local economies and craftsmanship.

The quality of life and dwelling conditions of the Shonatola village community, living in a peri-urban settlement outside of Sylhet city, is under significant threat. The Shonatola villagers experience significant housing challenges, infrastructural barriers and economic insecurity due to climate-induced environmental distress and the impacts of Sylhet city’s sprawling urban development on their way of life. This research investigates how a situated participatory housing design approach can be applied to improve dwelling conditions of the Shonatola village community. This project proposes a three phase design approach to address the defined research question. Phase one addresses infrastructural upgrades to the existing community; phase two confronts a reactive approach to in-situ housing improvements to the existing village and phase three proposes a proactive design approach to densify the Shonatola settlement by expanding west, beyond the current village limits. This results in three reactive and two proactive design schemes. This project provides a systematic method for development, by offering housing solutions which promote and uplift villagers within Shonatola by improving their current living conditions and supporting their ability to keep living on the land they have lived for generations, while also addressing the need for future expansion and densification of this peri-urban site.

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 aims to address the ongoing issues impacting vulnerable communities, specifically in Sylhet, Bangladesh as a result of the global climate crisis.

Bangladesh’s extreme vulnerability to climate change are due to its low-lying topography, and funnel-shaped coast, exposing the land to cyclones and tidal surges, resulting in seasonal floods.

These factors, alongside the large population base, widespread poverty and lack of strong institutional development make the country particularly vulnerable to climate variability.

The proposal seeks to present a viable prototype that can be adapted and applied across diverse settings experiencing comparable environmental challenges brought about by the ongoing climate crisis. The intent is to offer a scalable solution that supports climate resilience and informed evidence-based planning.

The amphibious housing prototype is strategically located in Sylhet, Bangladesh, a city that has been devastated by extreme weather conditions for decades. As such, the design process thoughtfully incorporates local culture as well as economic and social considerations.

This thesis aims to propose a contextually grounded solution based in Sylhet, Bangladesh. With the intention of demonstrating that, with appropriate adaptations to design and managerial strategies as well as material considerations that may be better suited, the amphibious housing system holds the potential for broader application in supporting climate-vulnerable communities worldwide.

This design phase builds on research, personal experience, and insights gathered during
our field trip to Bangladesh. Especially the homestay in Ekduaria gave me a deep understanding of how people in rural Bangladesh live, how they use space, value community, and adapt their homes to daily needs. These experiences shaped the foundation of the project. The research focused on finding affordable, adaptable, and community-oriented housing for rural-urban migrants in Sylhet. What became clear is that affordability is the top priority, but just as important are familiar qualities like green space, open low-rise layouts, a strong sense of community, and a clear transition from public to private spaces. To respond to these needs, I chose to work with the Open Building approach. This method allows for flexible, long-term housing solutions where residents can adapt their living spaces over time. A clear structure provides stability, while the interiors remain open for change. A minimum floor height of 3.5 meters, smart placement of service cores, and layered construction all support this flexibility. Smaller studies on climate, material choice, and construction techniques helped refine the design. Local materials, passive cooling, and rainwater collection are integrated to make the project more sustainable and context-specific. This project is not a fixed solution, but a flexible framework designed to grow and change with its users. It offers a future-proof way of living that connects the memory of the village with the possibilities of the city, and aims to reduce the affordable housing shortage in Sylhet in a way that feels both practical and personal.

Bangladesh is undergoing a rapid urban transformation, with cities like Sylhet expanding at an unprecedented pace. This growth, however, often comes at the cost of ecological stability, spatial equity, and cultural continuity. This graduation project explores how sustainable urban expansion can be achieved in Sylhet by integrating vernacular architectural practices into contemporary planning.

Through a multidisciplinary approach, combining fieldwork, urban mapping, material research, and case study analysis, the project addresses the question: How can strategies for urban growth incorporate traditional knowledge to support environmental, economic, and cultural resilience in rapidly developing cities like Sylhet? Centered on Shonatola, a peri-urban village on Sylhet’s edge, the study exposes the risks of fragmented, plot-based development and the growing preference for industrial materials that disconnect communities from their environmental and cultural roots.

As an alternative, the project proposes a design framework that employs natural materials, bamboo, compressed earth blocks, and lime plaster, across all housing types and income levels. This material consistency challenges the social stigma surrounding vernacular construction and supports inclusive, low-carbon development. The proposal is anchored by a Community Land Trust (CLT) model that ensures affordability, collective land ownership, and long-term governance.

Rather than opposing urban growth, the project demonstrates how locally grounded design can steer it in a direction that is equitable, resilient, and reflective of cultural identity.

The project focuses on the natural conditions, the industrial and housing situation in the haor region of Sylhet, Bangladesh. The aim is to create a new housing system suitable for rural areas, combining local industry and housing. This will increase employment opportunities, improve local living conditions and alleviate the problem of over-migration from rural to urban areas. At the same time, the new housing system is flexible, adjustable and adaptable, and is able to respond to seasonal variations in natural conditions and changes in local industries.

The Surma River in Bangladesh sustains the livelihoods of millions residing along its banks and serves as a vital resource for activities such as fishing and bathing. Since the water quality of the river is negatively impacted by multiple factors including waste disposal, these practices are not safe for people to continue.
Seeing as the Tanguar Haor sits in the floodplain of the Surma river and, the river is polluted with waste and plastic from cities and villages along the riverbanks, the trash that is discarded into the Surma can eventually end up in the Tanguar Haor and pollute the water and soil.
The Tanguar Haor is a wetland located in the Sunamganj district, west of Sylhet, and is very low lying land. Due to the low lying nature of the haor it is inundated for around 7 to 8 months a year. It is highly affected by rainfall and floods since it lies at the foot of the Meghalaya mountains. When heavy rains occur upstream or in the catchment areas of these rivers, the water flows downstream into the delta, causing rivers to overflow their banks.
The land’s lack of elevation makes it difficult for floodwaters to recede quickly, leading to prolonged inundation.

This graduation project tackles living in the ever changing wetlands of Bangladesh. A project about flood resilience and circularity and the intersectionality of several problems they face: lack of sanitation, waste and water pollution and frequent flooding.
The design proposal takes the strengths of the current settlement and way of living and turns them into a more liveable, circular and flood resilient village.

This project presents a solution where the Bede, a floating nomadic community in Bangladesh, can be preserved while simultaneously allowing space for the needs of the culture without having to hide their identity. It uses traditional and affordable techniques, preserving not only the Bede traditions, but also the traditional shipbuilding techniques of Bangladesh. In addition, the design improves the daily lives of this marginalised group.

This graduation report presents the reserach and design for a rural settlement system in the Haor region of Bangladesh. This area exists of a unique ecosystem, that is vulnerable to frequent and long lasting flooding. The primary objective of this project is to create a safe and sustainable rural community that can provide residents with a rural place to stay. While also mitigating the effects of rapid urbanization. The rural community should gain economic opportunities for its residents, thereby preventing migration to urban slums and enhancing overall well-being.

The proposed settlement system consists of a network of
interconnected elevated islands that offer protection from floods while maintaining accessibility between them. Each island is
equipped with spaces that can be used for healthcare and education, ensuring these essential services can still be practiced even during future higher floods. The main island will have more services such as additional schools, healthcare facilities, markets and other public buildings. Secondary islands will focus more on residential areas, while special islands will be designated for markets and tourism. The design tries to improve resilience, for example by high building plinths and land reclamation for year-round agricultural activities.

Economic opportunities are enhanced through the creation of
attractive communal spaces that encourage small businesses such as shops and tea stalls. The implementation of pro-poor tourism further enhances income generation options in the form of jobs as well as allowing residents to collectively host tourists and share the generated income. The development of community-led housing cooperatives further promotes social cohesion and economic stability, enabling even the poorest residents to participate in the community and be benefitted from it.

The report begins with an introduction to the challenges of urbanization, particularly in Bangladesh, followed by a concise contextual analysis covering ethnographic, environmental, and climatic data. An examination of the regional context and existing settlements provides insights for the design, which is then detailed from a macro to micro scale. The design process is elaborated from the regional plan to the layout of the main island, the configuration of clusters, and finally the individual units and construction details.

The results of this project include a layout of the interconnected islands on a regional scale. Which is then followed by a detailed layout of the main island with strategic placement of public facilities and residential clusters around shared courtyards. Roads are designed in a DNA-like pattern to control traffic flow and create vibrant neighborhoods with distinct public functions at key intersections. The introduction of renewable materials, such as bamboo, for construction and the establishment of resilient agricultural practices further contributes to the sustainability of the settlement.

In conclusion, this proposed settlement system addresses the challenges faced by rural communities, specific to the Haor region of Bangladesh. By incorporating economic and social initiatives into the design, the project aims to create a livible and resilient place to stay that can be used as a model for other regions worldwide facing similiar challenges.

Floods are part of Sylhetis’ daily lives and profoundly influence their lifestyle and overall well-being. Within this context, it is noted in this study that one of the main problems people encounter in the Haors is that: Despite local adaptation strategies to cope with flash floods, the scarcity of space remains a limitation to cultivating crops essential for a balanced diet. This situation prompts the following question: How can we improve food security and dietary diversity while ensuring adequate housing conditions for the local population? To address this inquiry, extensive examination of case studies, scholarly research papers, and field observations has been conducted. Subsequently, an architectural design for a new settlement in the Haor region has been proposed. Prior to this, the agricultural practices and adaptive strategies employed to manage flood conditions are thoroughly analyzed.
In the subsequent section of this paper, careful considerations are made regarding the selection of suitable vegetables and fruits, as well as the size of food storage facilities to be integrated into the settlement design.
In conclusion, it is evident that given the constraints of population density and limited spatial resources within the new settlement, agricultural spaces can produce enough rice for seven days of flash floods, enough vegetables for 12 days in the year, and enough fruits for 20 weeks.