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POCAA

Platform of Community Action and Architecture

A platform where people from different backgrounds with the interest of working for low-income communities engage with each other. This platform is well connected with the socially vulnerable communities in Dhaka and are actively working with youth groups from various communities. POCAA has been co-creating various designs with these communities using tools like community mapping, profiling, and implemented housing and other social infrastructures in different parts of Bangladesh. “Let people be the solution” is at the core of our philosophy, and all of the ventures aim to elevate the practice of community architecture and to establish a network between the communities to share good practices.

  • To ensure the well-being of the collectives (both the professional team and the community team)
  • To reach to the people who can’t access professional supports and are not often visible or heard in the decision making process (it can be low-income communities, women and children)
  • To make space for everyone to express one’s feelings, aspiration and proactively participate with happiness and dignity
  • To co-create with groups/communities for creative solution (mainly of living env.) of any problem
  • To learn and facilitate communities to discover their strengths and beauty and understanding collective needs in the truest sense so that our work is not focused on end results or tools.
  • To facilitate the process of co-creation. It itself is the product (more important than the end product), which is the result of the truest understanding of people’s needs.

We always practice deep listening by listening to stories from the ground. And we try to share and facilitate to weave these stories with different groups by creating network

We always try to innovate solutions from people’s wisdom and existing regular practice. 

We adopt community mapping and model making as a visual aid to see and understand what the community knows and perceives.

Doing things hands-on and eating together is a powerful tool in our process.

We make sure to do horizontal sharing through networking between communities and professionals.

We always opt for doing things collectively rather than individually. 

Induce the young professionals so they can learn from here and work on their own

Another important tool of our interest is to create pera-professionals within the community. /skill transfer 

POCAA works and grows very organically and is open for anyone who is interested.

We believe in sharing our small happiness of co-creating with communities. So we love to disseminate knowledge among everyone- community, professionals

Jhenaidah Citywide Upgrading Process

2017, Jhenaidah community network, Co.Creation.Architects, POCAA, ALIVE, BRAC University, Jhenaidah municipality and Asian Coalition for Housing Rights (ACHR)
Jhenaidah Citywide Community Upgrading Process has been awarded the 8th Berger Award for Excellence in Architecture in multi family residence category.

Urban River space

2022, Jenaidah, Bangladesh | Co.Creation.Architects / Khondaker Hasibul Kabir, Suhailey Farzana
A community-driven project providing public spaces in a riverine city with 250,000 residents, offering walkways, gardens and cultural facilities, as well as environmental efforts to increase biodiversity along the river.

UIA Award​

2022
Jhenaidah Citywide Community Upgrading Process has been awarded the 8th Berger Award for Excellence in Architecture in multi family residence category.

POCAA's Entry "আলো ঘর"​

2021, Organized by Arcasia Committee on Green & Sustainable Architecture (ACGSA).
"The Lightened House” was shortlisted in the Professional Category of DESIGNING FOR RESILIENCE TO THE CHANGING ENVIRONMENT Competition 2021

Barry will Award 2021​

2021
Platform of Community Action and Architecture (POCAA) has won the very first Ar. Barry Will Award 2021 for the proposed project 'Common ground: Community-led productive garden and learning centre.'

POCAA (Platform of Community Action and Architecture) – A platform where people from different backgrounds with the interest of working for low-income communities engage with each other.

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