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$2,000 U.S.D. House for Ananda Pal & Family
Hindupara, Bangladesh | Single Family Residence | Fall 2017
The project, together with Professor Marina Tabassum, paired each student with a client in a small Bangladeshi village. I worked with Ananda Pal and his family. They are hard-working potters, dedicating over 18 hours a day during the busy season to sculpt pots. The other Harvard students and I traveled to Bangladesh in September 2017 to meet each client to better understand their needs.
Ananda Pal expressed that his property needs to be better organized to suit the many stages of pottery production. Multiple structures already exist on his lot: a house, separate toilet, kitchen, kiln, pottery wheel and work area, storage, and a central courtyard. These buildings did not leave enough open space for pottery work, however, and it was determined that the house should be replaced with a two-story house and studio.
The new scheme condenses work functions on the bottom floor, which is entirely open air and a reinterpretation of the traditional Bengali veranda. Living spaces are lofted above. A sundeck, on the third story, provides extra space for drying pottery in the sun above the treeline. The house budget was approximately $2000 U.S. dollars, necesitating a simple, straight-forward design. The ground level spaces are kept open using arches, as trabeated beams must be imported from off-site and are relatively expensive. The upper floor brickwork is lined on the interior with mud plaster, to give a smooth finish and to keep the sleeping rooms comfortable. The challenge of the project was to elevate traditional building materials like mud, bamboo, and brick, into an elegant and durable design that could be built (including labor) for under 2,000 U.S.D.
Michael Matthews, AIA
Contact: mikedavematt (at) gmail
Resume available upon request |
Michael Matthews Studio
Full Service Licensed Architecture Firm
Registered with American Institute of Architects
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