Cha er Dibba

Shabab Touhid Khan

Brac University, School of Art and Architecture

Bangladesh 

Mehnan Rahman

Brac University, School of Art and Architecture

Bangladesh 

Project Description

Bangladesh remains a juggernaut in the field of cultural symbols with its adoption of many western and south asian contraptions. One such symboll is the good old school van. A quick look at the chaotic image of Dhaka city's traffic will show how this once iconic vehicle is now slowly fading into the shadows 

Our design is a call to repurpose these vehicles, now abandoned or left behind, into another cultural symbol, a tea stall. We plan to take these vans and deconstruct them to form modular mobile tea stalls, creating spaces of joy and adda in all neighbourhoods. Such a design can be easily assembled, with the existing seats of the van modified to be used as folding seats for customers and the cart being the crux of the design, serving as the kitchen where the tea is prepared. With most of its elements being repurposed and some simple joineries welded, it can be incredibly cost effective and will provide a means of income to those who once owned these vans which are going out of business and breathe new life into them. Schools and small institutions that once used these can use them as tea stalls on school premises, or give them to underprivileged people looking to start a business, thus creating a ripple effect leading to increased employment in the local area and also culturally enriching it. As the streets of Dhaka get more busy and mundane by the day, our vision is to breathe some new life into them through these Cha er Dibbas.