Vas – Page 3 – A Magazine from Bengal Institute

Landscape

Architecture in the Landscape in Bangladesh

ByFarhat AfzalDecember 31, 2020

Organised as a three-week-long program, the objective of the September session was to better understand the relationship between architecture and landscape with particular attention to practices in Bangladesh. Jalal Ahmad, Salauddin Ahmed, Rafiq Azam, Kazi Khaleed Ashraf, Iqbal Habib, Saif Ul Haque, Khondaker Hasibul Kabir, Nahas Khalil, Ehsan Khan and Marina Tabassum were part of […]

Op-Eds

Footprints

ByKerry HillDecember 30, 2020

Kerry Hill kindly shared this write up on his 2016 Utzon Lecture with us. Soon after receiving this article, we learned the sad news of his death on August 26, 2018. ————————————————————————————————————— An Australian but based in Singapore, Kerry Hill designed

ByVas Editorial DeskDecember 30, 2020

What are some common misconceptions about housing? What is the importance of housing in the modern urban fabric? Is housing getting the attention it deserves from our policymakers? Are we suffering from a lack of vision? This article addresses all these questions, and more. In the 1920s, the French-Swiss architect and pioneer of modern housing, […]

History

Early European Settlers of Dhaka

ByDhrubo AlamDecember 29, 2020

Dhrubo Alam writes about the early European immigrants who settled in Dhaka. Portuguese Immigrants Technically, the Portuguese were not only the first Europeans to arrive in Bengal but also in Dhaka. Already infamous for their piracy and other adventures on the coastal areas, Sundarbans, and along the big rivers, the Portuguese invoke various narratives in […]

Cities

সবুজের অন্বেষণে

ByFatiha PolinDecember 29, 2020

শহর ও তার সাথে গাছপালার সম্পর্ক এবং এর রূপায়ণে দ্বিজেন শর্মার প্রভাব নিয়ে লিখেছেন ফাতিহা পলিন একদিন আমি আর আমার ছোট্ট মেয়ে পথে বেরিয়েছি, মিরপুর থেকে বনানী ডি. ও. এইচ. এস. যাবো। তখনো ঢাকায় উবার আসেনি। অতএব সিএনজিই ভরসা। গরমে, শব্দে, ধুলায় অতিষ্ঠ; মাস্ক পরিয়েও লাভ হয় না, বারেবারে খুলে ফেলতে চায়। সনির মোড়ে এসে […]

Cities

The Future Is the City—But What Will It Be?

ByFarhat AfzalDecember 28, 2020

Farhat Afzal writes on the conversation between Kazi Khaleed Ashraf and Adnan Morshed, September 2017 Le Corbusier said in his 1923 book titled The City of Tomorrow and its Planning that a successful city is one where speed can be brought under control. The average speed of Dhaka is now 7 Kmph. Where is this speed leading […]

Op-Eds

Kabir: An Architect of the Life-world

ByKazi Khaleed AshrafDecember 28, 2020

Kazi Khaleed Ashraf writes on the work process and methodology of Khondaker Hasibul Kabir In the early part of 2007, a young architecture professor from a reputed university in an up-scale area in Dhaka crossed the waters of a putrid lake to a slum on the other shore. There he rented a space to live in the […]

Cities

Thinking Density Differently

ByMohammad TauheedDecember 28, 2020

Mohammad Tauheed defends the densification of cities and explores its benefits while also questioning the narratives opposing it. What if density is not the evil it is often cited to be? Cities by their very nature are the epitome of human interactions and innovations; and in doing so, they have made a remarkable contribution to […]

You Think You Know What Art Is?

ByMuntakim HaqueDecember 28, 2020

Muntakim Haque writes on the role and perception of Art based on the lectures at Bengal Institute by Nisar Hossain, Monirul Islam, Wakilur Rahman and Sajjad Sharif. Whenever the question of what art is crosses one’s mind, it will invariably be swarmed with conflicting if not contradictory answers. If one were to look at the ancient Greeks’ […]

An Idea for a Circular Light Rail (LRT) for Dhaka City

On Slowness

We Need to Change the Way We Talk About Climate Change