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Bangladesh

KORAIL - City of culture

This project is a sustainable urban development initiative supported by the Creative Economy Programme of the Federal Foreign Office in Germany, in collaboration with Goethe-Institut Bangladesh and its local counterpart, Paraa, and international partner, Floating e.V. The project aims to support cultural practitioners and producers living, working, and playing in Korail in establishing sustainable cultural practices, and to feed this knowledge back into processes of global and local learning and teaching on sustainable urban development.

Korail - City of Culture © FNQ.AIA.RN

Where is KORAIL?

The Background of the Project

The Paraa team has been working with a dedicated group of youth volunteers from Korail for the last two years.
 
In the beginning of the Korail project, the youth volunteers did a series of participatory design and research workshops with the wider Korail community. This was under the supervision of the Paraa team, supported by Goethe-Institut. These workshops took form in dynamic ways, playful interactive methods that involved roaming around, making models with available local materials, asking questions to diverse groups of people and mapping and understanding critically the challenges of creating a new public space in Ershad Maath.
 
The participatory research questions explored around play - what is it, who plays, why is play important, how is play happening in Korail, where is a safe space for girls to play, etc. Through this research, the youth then worked together to develop an architectural model and vision of an ideal place that reflected the community’s aspirations for an all-inclusive safe play space.

Festival of Design 2024

Join us this December 2024 for the 'Moja-Kori' festival! The four-day long festival organized across multiple sites in and beyond Korail, aims to engage youth, design professionals, and create a cultural center, envisioning a replicable model for a Design Biennale. Focused on community engagement, the festival explores design's impact within cities like Korail through collaborations and showcases projects at the intersection of arts, climate, culture, gender, accessibility, and sustainability.
Want to become a part of the festival?
Collaborate with us through sponsorship, venues, artistic partnerships, communications, logistics, volunteering, or workshops!

Design festival call © Goethe Institut Bangladesh © Goethe Institut Bangladesh

HIGHLIGHTS

The first dream model made by the Korail Youth team with Paraa.

The first dream model made by the Korail Youth team with Paraa. | © Paraa, Goethe-Institut

Korail youth with the final design model at the Korail play exhibition at Drikpath.

Korail youth with the final design model at the Korail play exhibition at Drikpath. | © Paraa, Goethe-Institut

The architectural vision of the cultural space in the Ershad Play Field.

The architectural vision of the cultural space in the Ershad Play Field. | © Paraa, Goethe-Institut

The project team with the Mayor of North Dhaka, Mr. Atiqul Islam and the Deputy to the Embassy of Germany, Mr. Jan Janowski.

The project team with the Mayor of North Dhaka, Mr. Atiqul Islam and the Deputy to the Embassy of Germany, Mr. Jan Janowski. | © Paraa, Goethe-Institut

The project team with the Member of Parliament, Mr. Mohammad A. Arafat and the General Councilor of Ward 19 of Dhaka North City Corporation, Mr. Md Mofizur Rahman.

The project team with the Member of Parliament, Mr. Mohammad A. Arafat and the General Councilor of Ward 19 of Dhaka North City Corporation, Mr. Md Mofizur Rahman. | © Paraa, Goethe-Institut

The Project team in Korail

The Project team in Korail | © Paraa, Goethe-Institut

A kid is interacting with the bamboo pavilion designed and executed by Paraa

A kid is interacting with the bamboo pavilion designed and executed by Paraa | © Paraa, Goethe-Institut

Programs under the project

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MOJA KORI DESIGN FESTIVAL

Korail-City of Culture plans a design festival at Ershad Math, engaging cultural workers with creative residencies, international collaborations, and a focus on community involvement and sustainable design, aiming to redefine design culture and promote inclusivity and environmental responsibility. The festival, curated by young individuals and community leaders, seeks to anchor a culturally sensitive, design-oriented understanding of urban development in the Global South.

Design Festival © Rafid Nahian © Rafid Nahian

  • February to April 2024

    WINTER SCHOOL

    The CADSE Winter School by Paraa, running from February to April 2024, offers a diverse cohort of students practical learning experiences and theoretical insights, focusing on critical self-reflection and leadership development to address challenges in vulnerable communities through architecture and sustainable design. The program incorporates sessions with experts from various fields, promoting a holistic approach to understanding socio-economic imbalances in urban design.

    Winter school © Rafid Nahian © Rafid Nahian

  • 2023

    WORKSHOPS AND EXHIBITIONS

    In 2023, the Goethe-Institut Bangladesh, alongside partners Paraa, Floating University, and the Korail Youth team, organized the 'KorailPlay' exhibition featuring research by Paraa, visual narratives from Floating University, and insights from the youth leaders of Korail. The exhibition provides a comprehensive understanding of the collaborative spirit of the Korail-City of Culture project.

    Workshops and Exhibitions © Rafid Nahian © Rafid Nahian

Glimpses of KORAIL

Women and children celebrating Victory Day

Women and children celebrating Victory Day | © Md. Kowshikur Rahman

Inside a bazaar (grocery market) in Korail

Inside a bazaar (grocery market) in Korail | © Md. Kowshikur Rahman

A small portion of regular groceries neatly stacked in front of a little boy in the bazaar

A small portion of regular groceries neatly stacked in front of a little boy in the bazaar | © Md. Kowshikur Rahman

Children are playing cricket in the alleys of Korail

Children are playing cricket in the alleys of Korail | © Md. Kowshikur Rahman

Small portion of regular groceries neatly stacked in front of a little boy in the bazaar

The typical housing patterns in Korail | © Md. Kowshikur Rahman

Pitha making molds is demonstrated by a seller in the Ershad field

Pitha making molds is demonstrated by a seller in the Ershad field | © Md. Kowshikur Rahman

Children of Korail

Children of Korail | © Md. Kowshikur Rahman

Project partners

  • Federal Foreign Office

    The 'Korail- City of Culture' project is funded by the Creative Economy Programme of the Federal Foreign Office of Germany. The program is an evolving concept that builds on the interplay between human creativity and ideas and intellectual property, knowledge, and technology.

    Federal Foreign Office © Federal Foreign Office © Federal Foreign Office

  • Paraa

    Paraa is a design workshop and architectural firm for critical design and research with a focus on the advancement of spaces in close collaboration with the respective local communities through multidisciplinary practice. Paraa’s work in Bangladesh as well as abroad includes the following central building blocks: A ‘school of thoughts’ of ongoing practice and research; responding through research to the rights and aspirations of the respective communities, Gaining and sharing knowledge about the built and natural environment in Bangladesh by connecting communities in developed as well as evolving societal contexts, promoting knowledge sharing through the development of innovative and participatory methods of participation.

    Paraa © Paraa © Paraa

  • Floating Berlin

    Floating University is a nature-culture learning site where practitioners from a wide range of backgrounds meet to investigate alternative, biodiverse forms of co-habitation in a partially contaminated rainwater basin, part of the former Tempelhof airport. Initiated as a temporary project in 2018 by architecture group Raumlabor, since 2019 the association has continued the experiment: to open, maintain, and take care of this unique site while bringing non-disciplinary, radical, and collaborative programs to the public. In other words, it is a place to learn to engage, to embrace the complexity, navigate the entanglements of the world, to imagine and create different forms of living.

    Floating Berlin © Floating Berlin © Floating Berlin

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