As UNESCO Chair of Earthen Architecture, Anna Heringer says “architecture is a tool to improve lives”. It is not just a roof over our heads, it makes communities, building self-confidence, caring for beauty and cultural identity, all of which are strongly linked to dignity.
One of the most densely populated countries on earth, Bangladesh, with over 163 million people, is a focus of Heringer’s work. In her approach, she asks three fundamental questions: What local materials are available? What are local energy sources? What local skills are available? The answers to these three questions are: mud and bamboo, people and people.
Instead of moving to cities where communities unravel, together with the Bangladeshi NGO Dipshikha, Anna Heringer and Veronika Lena Lang initiated Didi Textiles, a group that offers opportunities to tailors to remain in their own village. This then enables people to stay in their own homes, involving older members of the family and children in their daily lives, building and sustaining communities.
This is not a shirt. This is a playground presents us with the village, its weave, its people. It shows us the implications of what we do, what we accept. It helps us see the world in a different way.
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Studio Anna Heringer
This is not a shirt. This is a playground