Bengal Architecture Symposium held

The second day of Architecture Now! Next symposium, organised by Bengal Institution for Architecture, Landscapes and Settlements, was held on March 19 at the Krishibid Institution Auditorium in Dhaka.

Professor Kazi Khaled Ashraf, director general of the Bengal Institute began the morning session with an introduction to Syed Manzoorul Islam, a professor in the Department of English, Dhaka University and a noted academic, writer, columnist, and literary critic. Professor Islam elaborated on the necessity of interactive education; he lamented that the prevalent education system is completely enclosed in classrooms and text books.

Next in line was Adele Naude Santos, FAIA, currently Professor of Architecture and Urban Planning at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. On her maiden visit to Bangladesh, she talked about responsible urbanism, and looking at urban and rural development in a global context. Her presentation was followed by a vibrant panel discussion on “Education: Now/Next” participated by Timmy Aziz, currently teaching in the departments of Architectural Design and Humanistic Studies at Maryland Institute of Contemporary Art (MICA), distinguished academic Peter Buchanan, the former Dean of the design school at MIT Adele Santos, and architect Shamsul Wares. The session was moderated by Architect Niklaus Graber from Lucerne, Switzerland.

Prominent Korean architect Byoungsoo Cho was up next and he spoke about site planning, positioning and placements of buildings that create spaces in between. It is in these spaces, he claimed, that architecture exists. Architect Salauddin Ahmed then introduced Vo Trong Nghia of Vietnam. Vo Trong exemplified his belief in how architecture should connect human and nature, by demonstrating the use of the principle in his own projects. The session concluded with a panel discussion on “Crafting Architecture” with Peter Stutchbury, Byoungsoo Cho, Vo Trong Nghia, Marina Tabassum and Salauddin Ahmed. The discussion was moderated by Timmy Aziz.