PalokPolli, Rehabilitation Center for Victims of Domestic Violence
Credit: RafaMashiyat Zahid
One of the recent graduates of the Department of Architecture at the School of Architecture and Design has been announced as the winner in Category-A (thesis) of SHAH Cement DOT Student Design Award 11th Cycle (June 2022 Issue) for her undergraduate thesis “PalokPolli, Rehabilitation Center for Victims of Domestic Violence”.
A leading architecture magazine in the country, DOT: journal on Art and Architecture aims to highlight the architecture of Bangladesh and document them. Besides, the journal also highlights sustainable, historical, environmental issues in architecture as well as interior design, landscape architecture and more.
The project of the alumna, Rafa Mashiyat Zahid, shed light on the fact that even though women make up for almost half of the entire human race, they have been abused, harassed and mistreated all throughout history irrespective of social classes, racial divide and geographic location. In many cases the victims have nowhere safe to go and hence choose to suffer in the abusive household. During such times, often after a physical altercation, they are placed in shelters and rehabilitation centers by law enforcement to recuperate.
Therefore, this project seeks to establish how a complex can be created that is conducive to the healing of these victims, both mentally and physically. It aims to create a safe space for the women who have faced violent circumstances, and need a space to heal. Through the usage of solutions like the establishment of privacy without walling the guests in, or by utilizing nature, water and light as healing factors, the project demonstrates how a complex such as this can help these women heal. It can also do a great service for the society as a whole, by simply making the people see the reality of what these women go through.
PalokPolli, Rehabilitation Center for Victims of Domestic Violence
Credit: RafaMashiyat Zahid