Machan is part of the wider Korail: City of Culture initiative, which promotes art and participation as tools for community building. Developed by the Dhaka-based collective Paraa, the project grew from long-term collaboration with residents, youth groups and community leaders. The settlement, home to over 80,000 people, sits beside Dhaka’s affluent neighbourhoods of Banani and Gulshan-Baridhara.
Project Name: Machan_Korail Community Platform
Studio Name: Paraa
Project location: Asia, Bangladesh
Gross area in m²: 332,0
Photo credit: ©City Syntax
Many residents work in waste recycling, street vending or domestic labour for the surrounding city. Korail’s contribution to Dhaka’s cultural life is rarely recognized, but Machan challenges that imbalance by placing creativity, learning and care at the centre of civic life.
The name – Machan, meaning ‘platform’ in Bangla – captures its essence: a structure that supports and connects. It stands at Ershad Maidan, one of Korail’s few open spaces, long used for dumping waste. Paraa worked with local volunteers, students and collaborators including Floating University Berlin to transform the site into a shared stage for expression. Over 60 workshops and residencies shaped the design, bringing together residents and young designers through storytelling, model-making and hands-on construction.
‘Machan_Korail Community Platform’ receives the award for Social Engagement for its powerful simplicity and subtle use of architecture, intervening only where truly needed. Built collaboratively with residents of Korail, Machan transforms a former dumping ground into a vibrant cultural centre. The project shows how young, diverse teams can create spaces that are both socially meaningful and architecturally restrained. The result feels like ‘playground architecture’ – open, adaptable and deeply rooted in everyday life. With minimal means, it brings culture to the forefront of community building, challenging elitist assumptions about who produces culture and how. A beautiful and original contribution that gives voice, space and dignity to the people of Korail.
Advisory Committee of the Ammodo Architecture Award 2025
‘Machan_Korail Community Platform’ receives the Ammodo Architecture Award 2025 for Social Engagement for its powerful simplicity and subtle use of architecture, intervening only where truly needed. Built collaboratively with residents of Korail, Machan transforms a former dumping ground into a vibrant cultural centre. The project shows how young, diverse teams can create spaces that are both socially meaningful and architecturally restrained. The result feels like ‘playground architecture’ – open, adaptable and deeply rooted in everyday life. With minimal means, it brings culture to the forefront of community building, challenging elitist assumptions about who produces culture and how. A beautiful and original contribution that gives voice, space and dignity to the people of Korail. The prize money will fund Paraa’s next participatory project in Dhaka: a co-designed built intervention developed with local residents, youth and artists. Through workshops, research and residencies, the project will explore how art, culture and architecture can empower informal settlements. Using local, ecological materials and community craftspeople, the intervention – temporary or permanent – will continue Machan’s legacy as a space of collective creatio
