Headergrafik | Anna Heringer

DESI is a vocational school for electrical training. The building houses classrooms, offices and residences for the school instructors. Picture by Naquib Hossain

The DESI building is a new interpretation of the traditional Bangladeshi homestead.

Typically in rural Bangladesh all of the various household functions - eating, sleeping, washing, etc. - are performed in separate structures that are built around a central courtyard.

The design is geared toward a lifestyle that is no longer linked with agriculture, but still linked to the rural context and culture.

Lime-plastering around the windows. Photo: B.K.S.Inan

Interiors. Photo: Naquib Hossain

Classroom at the groundfloor. Photo: B.K.S.Inan

Colours and fine surfaces as sensitive and sensual counterpart to the archaic walls and shapes. Photo: Alexandra Grill & B.K.S.Inan

Photo: B.K.S.Inan

Female plastering team. Photo: Martin Rauch

Women empowerment...! Photo: Construction team

Solar Pannel installation. Photo: Team Rudrapur

embroidery over upcycled saris. Photo by Günter König

DESI Trainingcenter, Rudrapur, Bangladesh

Self-sufficiency and appropriateness 




The DESI building is a new interpretation of the traditional Bangladeshi homestead. Typically in rural Bangladesh all of the various household functions - eating, sleeping, washing, etc. - are performed in separate structures that are built around a central courtyard. The DESI building, however, attempts to incorporate all of the functions of working and living into a single structure. The design is geared toward a lifestyle that is no longer linked with agriculture, but still linked to the rural context and culture. 

DESI (Dipshikha Electrical Skill Improvement) is a vocational school for electrical training. The DESI building houses two classrooms, two offices, and two residences for the school instructors. There is a separate bathroom with two showers and two toilets for the teachers and a bathroom facility with toilets and sinks on the ground floor for the students. 

Funded by: Shanti-Partnerschaft Bangladesh e.V., Shanti Schweiz and OmicronClients: Dipshikha (Non-formal Education Training and Research Society for Village Development), Bangladesh for DESI (Dipshikha Electrical Skill Improvement) Design: Anna Heringer Building: Two storey vocational school building (for electrical students) made with earth and bamboo  Ground floor: 1 classroom plus veranda for practical training, 2 offices, sanitary units, technical room, storage First floor: 1 classroom, veranda, two teacher flats, sanitary unitsFloor area: 300m2Location: Rudrapur, Dinajpur district, Bangladesh Structural engineering and technical supervision: Stefan NeumannSolar installations and electrical concept: Jakob Schaub Energy concept: Oskar PankratzAdvisor in earthen structures:Martin Rauch Advisor in bamboo treatment and quality management: Prof. Walter LieseSupervision of site: Stefan Neumann, Montu Ram Saw, Shoeb Al Rahe Project management: Anna Heringer with Dipshikha Duration:
Construction workers and craftsmen were all coming from Rudrapur. This project is part of the Phd of Anna Heringer with kind support of The Elite Network Bavaria