Project Description

In Bangladesh, the river is both giver and taker. Formed by the world’s largest delta, this land is nourished by the Ganges-Brahmaputra, yet suffers chronic erosion that displaces hundreds of thousands each year. Still, the river is feeding families, carrying memory and shaping identity. My mother once spoke of a village lost to flood, a fear passed through generations. From her stories, I learned that healing isn’t about walls or retreat. As Stephen Levine wrote, “To heal is to touch with love that which we previously touched with fear.” This project offers an architecture that floats on the same waters that took away villages. 

The River’s Hand is a ritual journey of healing across three realms: the Planet, the Community, and the Person. It begins in a community orchard where new roots are planted. From there, a bamboo-framed pavilion rises on RCC flood-resistant piles—an open space for rituals, learning, and storytelling. A telescopic gangway then extends to the floating platform, stabilized by guide piles that glow like lanterns. This platform stretches like a hand over water. Its five fingers are Memory Pods—terracotta sanctuaries for solitude and grief. To sit here is to feel the river beneath you. Rain caught from the roof feeds mangrove saplings planted by the community, strengthening the riverbank. This architecture lives, floats and regenerates. Scalable, low-tech, and deeply rooted, The River’s Hand is a process of co-existence.