From the Winners

The monument “Shwadhinota Sriti Shoudha” (Liberation Memorial) for Dhaka University is designed to show homage to the Martyred Intellectuals for the sacrifice they made in Liberation War of 1971. Since its establishment, Dhaka University has played a vital role to encourage the whole nation to protect humanity by  their leadership and knowledge. And of course, the largest sacrifice made by them was ‘knowledge’. They lost a number of unparalleled intellects in the war. So the design is to create a knowledge square to recollect their memory and to convey their message to our future generation.

We tried to make a monument that is enough informative of its thought itself, which is enough futuristic and unique to match with the choice of the upcoming generation, and of course which merges with the given site of mall area nicely. We tried to minimalize the disturbance to the nature and circulation of the site. In height, material and expression of this monument we tried to achieve the vibe that has given spirit to the fighters at that time and to make a connection bridge to the upcoming generations with the fighters’ souls.

Jury citation 

This proposal captures the spirit of the “Dhaka Bishwa Biddalaya Shadhinota Sriti Shoudha” with minimal intervention into the mall site. The form and material of the monument is novel, futuristic and has the potential for cognitive engagement with the viewers for generations to come. The jury strongly feels that this monument design be built be built and has the potential to become a national cultural asset.

However the jury feels that some modifications will be necessary to fine tune the project by adjusting the height of the tower in relation to the base and the base needs to be significantly toned down and made simpler. Of the three projects selected by the jury, this is the only project that fully complies with the TOR set out by the host university.