Monsoon: A Study of Human Resiliency to Annual Flooding in Rural Bangladesh

Abstract

Bangladesh is one of the most flood-prone nations in the world, because a majority of the land is very flat. During the rainy season, which lasts from June to October, the combination of heavy rainfall and melt water from the Himalayas causes over 21% of the country to flood on average, and over 60% in extreme cases. The intersection of three major rivers, the Padma, the Meghna and the Jamuna, has created the largest delta in the world, where a majority of surrounding land is prone to annual flooding. It would be largely beneficial for people within local communities to develop an architectural response to cope with the flooding, based around local knowledge and materials. The goal of this thesis is to develop small-scale, flood adaptive structural systems using vernacular materials and techniques that respond to the seasonal monsoon floods in rural Bangladesh.