Name: Sara Seifert
Track: Architecture
Studio: Global Housing
Year: MSc 3/4 / 2025
Type: Graduation Project
Tutor: Dick van Gameren, Marina Tabassum, Ludovica Cassina, Antonio Paoletti
Description:
The tea garden community in Bangladesh is one of the most marginalised and socially segregated groups in the country. The workers villages face a number of challenges, including overcrowding, inadequate housing, limited privacy, and a lack of communal spaces, particularly for women and children. This project is based on an ethnographic study of the community’s living conditions and social interactions, as well as on the use of traditional, local building materials and techniques. The objective of the project is to transform the workers' village by reimagining it through the lens of community and tradition at various levels, including the masterplan, the dwellings, and the construction. The masterplan incorporates a variety of residential types with a modular approach, that provides a flexible system for the different needs and the possibility of incremental growth. To strengthen the sense of community, the project integrates shared spaces at multiple levels, from public areas to courtyards, in-home spaces, and community buildings.