When the Aga Khan Award for Architecture (AKAA) announced its winners of the 2022 edition, 20 projects were selected for their excellence in the fields of contemporary design, social housing, community development, and preservation and improvement of the environment. Among them, one project in Jhenaidah, Bangladesh, managed to capitalize on the strength of the local community to reverse the ecological degradation of its riverscape and create a functional and socially inclusive public space along the riverbanks. ArchDaily’s Managing Editor, Christele Harrouk, had the chance to interview Suhailey Farzana, and Khondaker Hasibul Kabir co-founders of Co.Creation.Architects, and Rubaiya Nasrin from Platform of Community Action and Architecture, POCAA, part of the team behind the Co-creation of Urban Spaces by the Nobogonga River, in Bangladesh. The project also won the 5th category of the UIA 2030 Award for the Access to Green and Public Spaces.
A Citywide People’s Network
The winning project is an exercise in co-creation. It was initiated and developed through dialogue with the residents, with a particular emphasis on vulnerable groups such as women, children, the elderly, and the disabled. The intervention aimed to transform the banks of the Nobogonga River in the city of Jhenaidah in southwest Bangladesh. The area had become neglected, polluted, and dangerous, despite it being an essential resource for the city. Initially, the architects started working with low-income communities to help them develop and co-create their housing. Through continued dialogue, they began to understand the need and opportunity associated with the river.
Understanding Co-Creation
Co-creation considers people and nature as the driving force behind the design process. The architects remark that people are continuously co-creating their environment with or without the involvement of an architect. This changed the perspective of the designers, who assumed the role of facilitators and coordinators who guide and give form to the needs and desires expressed by the people who will inhabit the spaces. This process engages people in creating urban spaces, ensuring that the interventions have a significant impact and respond adequately to the local conditions. Co-creation also involves considering non-human communities working together. This is also not an isolated project but an ongoing process.
A People’s Initiative
Because the community initiated the project, engagement was a given from the start. The architects contributed by organizing workshops and discussions over the span of a few years. They were careful to give voice to vulnerable groups, from women and children to street vendors and low-income communities. Cyclist groups also had a significant impact on the resulting public spaces. This collective input dictated design decisions such as installing changing cabins or slip-safe paving to ensure the safety of disabled, children, and elderly users. The collective knowledge also gave valuable information regarding the use of space during different seasons, events, and festivals.
The Aga Khan Award for Architecture (AKAA) was established in 1977 to identify and encourage projects that successfully address the needs and aspirations of communities where Muslims have a significant presence. The six winners share the 1 million USD prize, one of the largest monetary awards in architecture. Winners of the 15th award cycle include the Community Spaces in Rohingya Refugee Response, also in Bangladesh; the reuse and conservation project for the Argo Contemporary Art Museum and Cultural Centre in Teheran, Iran; and the renovation of Oscar Niemeyer's Guest House in Tripoli, Lebanon by East Architecture Studio.
