A Pond Pavilion

Project location: Bangladesh

Project status: Completed, 2024

In rural Bangladesh, ponds are more than water sources—they are civic anchors. Ghats serve as thresholds between land and water, ritual and routine, solitude and gathering. This project reimagines a dilapidated ghat through a minimal retrofit that foregrounds reflection, literal and conceptual, within tight budget constraints.

The roof echoes the geometry of the steps below, creating a layered visual field: roof, steps, and their twin reflections in the water compose a four-part composition that shifts with light, season, and activity. The familiar roof form and muted green hue embed the structure into the surrounding landscape, rendering it less as an object and more as an atmospheric condition—subtle, almost invisible.

Constructed with RCC and pigmented natural cement finish (NCF), the surface was treated with a delayed curing technique, creating a fractured, crystalline texture that catches both water and sunlight. The result is a structure that feels aged into place—quietly contemporary, yet deeply rooted.

More than an architectural intervention, the pavilion successfully claims a public ritual space: restoring the pond as a site of gathering, memory, and everyday encounter.