Naim Ahmed Kibria

Glenn Murcutt Master Class 2009 : EU Irish Master Class 2011

Biddyabhuban School, Bangladesh

Recently completed - a school named 'Biddyabhuban' (realm of wisdom) for the poor, made of bamboo in a remote area in northern part of Bangladesh.

[  

God reveals himself through nature more effectively than through man made institutions. Hence the education of the child should be under natural surroundings so that he develops love for all things around him

.] - Rabindranath Tagore.

In September 2015, our first visit to school 'Biddyabhuban' in Netrakona, 160 km northeast of Dhaka, discovered no structure. Our client, a friend, had been teaching in an open to sky space surrounded by mahagony trees since 2009, where we were amazed and became enthusiastic after enjoying a group performance of the students - all came from very poor families. The client required three classrooms only. We started the design considering existing classroom as the first classroom. Three bamboo classrooms with thatched roof are arranged in a pinwheel pattern around a central courtyard - all raised 60cm and attached obliquely to this open classroom, facilitating enough ventilation & light from all directions. The school now gets five classrooms altogether. All materials are local, parents of students were engaged in construction, even the students also took part after the school hours.

www.ozetecture.org