আরণ্যক: a center for mangrove adaptation and learning, Koyra, Khulna

Abstract

Rising climate risks and frequent natural disasters are threatening both the mangrove ecosystem and the communities that depend on them along coastal Bangladesh. The project ‘আরণ্যক-A Center for Mangrove Adaptation and Learning’ proposes an architectural response to this urgency. Located at the edge of the Sundarbans, the world's largest contiguous mangrove forest and a UNESCO heritage site, the design investigates how architecture can provide an adaptive, resilient framework to support research, education and community participation in mangrove conservation and ecological restoration. Addressing both ecosystem degradation and the increasing disaster vulnerability of coastal communities, the project integrates elevated form, sustainable materials, and disaster-resilient infrastructure led by computational simulations that assess wind load and hydrodynamics, and to withstand extreme climate conditions. Flexible spatial zoning and functional mapping allow research, training and community spaces to operate flexibly as well as to transform seamlessly into shelters during emergencies. Using a qualitative research approach and supplemented by quantitative assessments, the study validates the design’s performance and resilience. The outcome is a replicable dual-purpose model for the coastal region, demonstrating how architecture can simultaneously enable knowledge, conservation and refuge within the dynamic context of the Sundarbans and similar deltaic landscapes.