Excerpt: ‘A Path Towards Resilience Through Community-Driven Activities at Gora-Digha, Kishoreganj’ is an architecture thesis by Faria Tabassum Sujan from the ‘Department of Architecture – American International University-Bangladesh (AIUB).’ The project aims to develop a resilient, multifunctional community hub for Bangladesh’s flood-prone Haor region, ensuring year-round access to education, healthcare, livelihoods, and social life. By embracing seasonal flooding rather than resisting it, the project seeks to sustain dignity, connectivity, and community resilience through adaptable architecture.
Introduction: Located in the flood-prone ‘Haor’ region of Bangladesh, the project explores how architecture can support communities living with recurring inundation and seasonal isolation. A ‘Haor’ is a unique wetland ecosystem in northeastern Bangladesh where vast floodplains transform into an inland sea during the monsoon and fertile agricultural land during the dry season.
The project began with a critical question—”How can architecture ensure access, dignity, and resilience in a place where even basic rights become seasonal?”
Rather than resisting water, it embraces seasonal transformation as a defining condition of place. Through community engagement, site investigations, and vernacular learning, the proposal develops a multifunctional civic framework that integrates education, healthcare, livelihoods, and cultural life. The project redefines resilience not merely as protection from climate impacts, but as the ability to sustain connection, dignity, and everyday life amidst environmental uncertainty.
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