Re-Made in Bangladesh is a research project investigating – through the deployment of architecture –the relationships in the global garment industry between producer and consumer nations. A catalog of potential architectural interventions is offered to improve working conditions and potentially eliminate practices of labor exploitation in the garment sector, whether in Chittagong or other locations. The project seeks to enable a shift from mass production industries to forms of micro and small enterprises, with workshops distributed throughout cities rather confining workforces in isolated factory compounds on the periphery of metropolitan centers.

Progress: Re-Made in Bangladesh (RIB) offers a catalog of simple, reproducible and adaptable architectural proposals, combining reinforced concrete structural elements with locally-sourced and affordable materials such as bamboo and mud brick. Construction is collaborative, providing sound basic structures to be “filled in” and personalized by future occupants. Architecture that facilitates a socially viable mode of production and an ethical product is thus a key brand marker.

People: The project engages individuals and communities in the creation of their own life and work environment, empowering local initiatives and encouraging entrepreneurship by establishing partnerships with private, public and nongovernmental organizations. Small-scale interventions combine to engender large-scale production networks, creating socially-viable economic and urban environments and improving garment industry working conditions by the direct empowerment of workers. Empowerment of women is sought through a focus on independent micro-production.

Planet: RIB uses widely-available local materials, integrating and encouraging use of traditional materials and techniques, including no-energy cooling and ventilation systems. Safe and durable buildings are constructed simply, designed to resist seasonal flooding, monsoons, heat and seismic activity. Proposals make use of left-over urban space to optimize densification and minimize sprawl, or occupy banks of ponds to aid emergency drainage and create diverse social spaces. Proposals adapted to the encouragement of efficient local networks reduce the need for unnecessary vehicle use, making pedestrian and bicycle circulation viable and safe.

Prosperity: The project provides innovative funding models for construction, working on a case-by-case basis to combine and optimize diverse financial resources, offering an organizational structure that facilitates and arbitrates the negotiation of ethical, sustainable financial agreements between diverse local and international actors for mutual benefit and improvement of the wider textile industry.

Place: RIB re-appropriates local built forms to create productive, commercially viable and comfortable work and living spaces. Proposals seek compactness, providing natural ventilation and lighting, and reducing the strain of economic and social activity on road circulation. The proposals promote the elaboration of a coherent though varied architectural quality, contributing in turn to the city’s identity.