This year’s five-day annual forum of Asian architects, known as ARCASIA is hosted by Bangladesh in its capital Dhaka. The event was inaugurated in 3rd November at Bangabandhu International Conference Centre. The Architects’ Regional Council of Asia abbreviated as ARCASIA is a Council of the presidents of the National Institutes of Architects of twenty-one Asian countries that are members of ARCASIA. Every alternate year, ARCASIA FORUM is hosted by one of the member countries of ARCASIA. The Institute of Architects Bangladesh (IAB) is hosting ARCASIA FORUM 20 this year and the theme is “Architecture in a Changing Landscape.” IAB is also holding an exhibition of more than 100 national and international award-winning architecture projects in two venues in Dhaka along with other events.
The official write up that CONTEXT received from the exhibition committee with credits are posted here to give a broader holistic picture of the themes and arrangement of the exhibition.
[Information Source: Tabassum Zarin Tithi, Photographs by : Rafi Sadman and Sayed Mohit]
On the event of ARCASIA Forum 20 in Dhaka, also marked by the celebration of the 50 Years Celebration of ARCASIA, IAB has organized an architecture exhibition for the first time addressing the mass community of Bangladesh alongside the architects, artists and other professionals of building industry. The event will take place from 31stOctober to 15th November 2019. This exhibition is a compilation of various national and international award-winning projects in contemporary Bangladesh. It traces the trends of architecture that have invariably developed with the country’s passage.
The inclusion of our glorious historical trail and modern masterworks, architectural photography made the exhibition a more communicative one. The exhibitions are arranged in different pavilions located at significant spots in Dhaka which are Manik Miah Avenue, Shahid Tajuddin Ahmad Smriti Park at Central Gulshan, Bangabandhu International Conference Center at Agargaon, Bengal Shilpalaya at Dhanmondi and Army Golf club.
The vibrant urban platforms of these exhibitions will create a common ground, where the whole society can engage with the national and international award-winning architecture of Bangladesh. The exhibition spaces have been chosen to be in major urban spots of Dhaka where social gathering can happen which will allow a better understanding of contexts and ideas those attract people of all ages. The key idea of the exhibition remains to reach, connect and engage beyond the interprofessional to the larger common mass of people.
The dialogues from the exhibition will show that the architects are connecting not only with the formation of urban settlement also sensibly engaging with rural settings and landscapes. This episode creates an aspiration in creating awareness about our own cultural value as well as our dynamic environment.
The exhibition events welcome the urbanites to connect with the compilation of the award-winning projects including the heritage, modern architecture and related installations that will generate robust solutions in the quest for aesthetically pleasing, sustainable and socio-culturally adept architecture. We hope to orient future architects, society, and the global arena at large, of what Bangladeshi architecture constitutes in this evolving region. We seek to provide a platform and starting point for our policymakers, development agencies, and user groups, and professionals abroad about the architectural trends of our region. The rapid changes in the Bengal region are supplemented and influenced by the dynamic architectural activities of the region and we welcome you to join us in a meandering journey of architecture and its trends in Bangladesh today.
Concept: Manik Miah Avenue
The display of architectural works, when housed in a designated space and targets a specific kind of audience, misses out the general public and their pulse. As a matter of fact, architects do not work for themselves but for others and it is the people to whom the buildings and the places are supposedly serving. The exhibition entitled ‘Exhibition on Architecture of Bangladesh’, showcasing more than a hundred rich and dynamic built projects of our country is an attempt to shift the paradigm of the exhibition from a bound space to the public realm to become part of general people’s collective experience. The exhibition has been brought outside of formal space of any sort and placed strategically at one of the most popular public plazas within the territory of the National Parliament Building of Dhaka. However, from the sustainability point of view, we found choosing Containers and reusing them would be the best possible option for accommodating an exhibition that is temporary in nature. The containers are placed at the site in such a manner that they create a wall without interrupting the ease of movement of the regular users of that public plaza. Artworks on the container walls, depicting the vibrant city life of Dhaka, are hoped to further connect people’s emotion in varying degree.
Concept: Central Park, Gulshan
An enclosure of Permeability and Aperture:
The public exhibition is evidently based on experiential images, images that create memories. The Arcasia Dhaka Exhibition pavilion in Gulshan park is conceived as a poetic response to the city dweller’s desire to gather and meet in a vibrant atmosphere that can be experienced in multiple ways. The set-up is dealt as an in-between space where thin layers of undulating surfaces form the open to a sky exhibition gallery, an atmospheric experience for people, where they can engage themselves with the vibrant realm of architecture. The design idea of this translucent pavilion is deeply rooted in the desire of engaging people with ease and simplicity. Simple ruled surfaces of repetitive sine curves and straight lines form a contemporary gallery space which is achieved with the use of traditional material bamboo.
In weather full of autumnly vibes, an open exhibition in a city park is perceived as a translucent ‘enclosure’ of permeability and aperture. The dissolving boundary awaits to offer a spatial experience of ‘architecture in a changing landscape’ for the citizen.
Exhibition Credits
Exhibition Committee for Arcasia Forum 20 Dhaka 19
Convener : Ehsan Khan Member
Secretary: Nabi Newaz Khan Shomin
Member: Jubair Hasan; Lutfullahil Majid Reaz; Didarul Islam Bhuiyan; Suvro Sovon Chowdhury; Saiqa lqbal Meghna; Khandaker Ashifuzzaman Rajon; Tabassum Zarin Tithi; Reesham Shahab Tirtho; Irteza Ameen; S. M. Ehsan UI Haque Shawpnil; Salman Rahman; Sabrina Sumona
Location 1: A Public Exhibition on Architecture of Bangladesh at Manik Miah Avenue
Installation Design : Md. Jubair Hasan, LutFullahil Maki
Graffiti: Reesham Shahab Tirtho
Display Panel (Graphics and Installation): Khandaker Ashifuzzaman Rajon, Tabassum Zarin Tithi, Irteza Ameen
Support: S. M. Ehsan UI Haque Shawpnil, Golam Mahmudur Rahman, Farzad Ghani, Amit Krishna Sarker, Tarif Tasneem Araf, Md. Atiqur Rahman Khan, Arafat Nawaj Aunkur
Location 2: A Public Exhibition on Architecture of Bangladesh at Shahid Tajuddin Ahmad Smriti Park, Central Gulshan
Installation and Playscape Design : Saiqa lqbal Meghna, Suvro Sovon Chowdhury
Graffiti : Kazi Istela Imam, Sayeef Mahmud
Display Panel (Graphics): Khandaker Ashifuzzaman Rajon, Tabassum Zarin Tithi, Irteza Ameen
Support: Sumaiya Ara Simi, Bhuiyan ARM Riyadh, Rahat Ibna Hasan, Md. Sirajul Islam, S. M. Ehsan UI Haque Shawpnil, Farzad Ghani, Amit Krishna Sarker, Tarif Tasneem Araf, Md. Atiqur Rahman Khan, Arafat Nawaj Aunkur
Image gallery
