Embankment Settlement in Bangladesh: A Study on the Self-generated Pattern of Vernacular Architecture

Abstract

Due to the erosion caused by the aggressive river Jamuna in Sirajganj, Bangladesh, every year
many villagers have move their homes. The poor, who cannot afford land at a safe distance from
the aggressive river, generally move to the nearby fl ood protection embankment. Without any land ownership, the embankment settlement in some ways appears as a ‘rural slum.’ But the embankment settlement differs from traditional rural architecture. Scarcity of land and strong linear direction of the embankment control the total organization of the settlement. This paper is focused on the unique features of fl ood embankment settlement as a self generated pattern of vernacular architecture.