It’s a story of a simple bamboo structure under a banyan tree! A story of making a space for all in the village in front of Co.Creation.Architects studio. It was co-created with community children, their parents, and village women builders. The structure is built with ‘Zero Carbon Bamboo Building with Active Participation of the Marginalized Community’ initiative. It was built with local tools, techniques, and locally available materials.
The children’s continuous play and laughter make it the liveliest common space in the village.
Amader Khela Ghor Or Our playhub is built together with the villagers. Children’s energetic engagement made the process very playful. It is a series of simple ‘A’ bamboo structures connected through a platform. Children can climb up and down with multiple bamboo stairs. They can play inside under the canopy. The roof woven with straw by the women artisans of the craft center made the inside temperature cooler in hot summer days. Also, the natural canopy of the banyan tree has lowered down the temperature significantly. The play hub is not limited to the built structure only. The tree logs around it used as seats made the whole area warm for spending leisure time for everyone. Before the completion of the space, children started to use it fully.
Soon after, this space accommodated multiple uses such as outdoor class for play school children, adolescent children’s afternoon hangout space, exhibition space for different purposes, and a child-friendly play space in the area. Moreover, this place had become an evening storytelling space for many! Along with the children, mothers are also seen to occupy themselves with handicraft and afternoon adda.
The khelaghor lasted for more than two years and was gradually brought down to the ground only as a platform. Later on, the idea of Khela Ghor was built in the adjacent homestead’s courtyard on a smaller scale.
Villagers of Bhutiargati, Jhenaidah Citywide People’s Network, Co.Creation.Architects
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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