Khudi Bari means 'little house' in Marina Tabassum's native, Bangladeshi language. The structure's compact volume, newly installed among the green expanses of the Vitra Campus, just outside, easily reinforces its name. It is small, crisp and beautiful, seemingly delicate and almost disappearing among the tree canopies around it.
' is more of a waterscape than a landscape,' Tabassum says. 'In Bangladesh, there are these houses in the local vernacular, a kind of our own “Ikea”, that can be bought in markets. But they are often too big and expensive to reach those who need them the most.
'Why would Vitra show something that is a necessity in Bangladesh? It could be read as exoticism. It’s not. It’s related to our work, as we have worked withdid his own emergency houses for people who have lost their homes, one of which we have in our collection. It is an important contribution to our campus. The architecture of resilience can also be beautiful.'Tabassum agrees: 'Vitra has an archival interest, I see this as an archive.