THE GRUDGING URBANIST
Has Dhaka become a status city?
The status city often serves the privileged, while the huddling masses eke out a minimal existence
Is human civilisation at an inflection point?
Our brains are being reprogrammed to look for the easiest solutions to our most vexing social and political questions.
Is there an architecture for marginal communities?
Our experience of designing Brac regional offices across rural Bangladesh.
Muzharul Islam’s Birth Centenary / Forging a Bengali identity through modernist architecture
After completing his Bachelor of Architecture degree at the University of Oregon, Eugene, in June 1952, the 29-year-old Muzharul Islam (1923-2012) returned home to find a postcolonial Pakistan embroiled in acrimonious politics of national identity.
The Louis Kahn mystique: 20 years after ‘My Architect’
The legend of Louis Kahn remains strong.
How we should design the next generation of parks
Do we need the 24/7 hustle and bustle of Dhaka – the cacophonous dramas of this sleepless city – reproduced in its parks too?
Heatwaves, global warming, and the ethics of our cities
We must rethink how cities are planned, designed, and administered to combat the adverse effects of both the heat island problem and climate change.
A dangerous time for history
Governments are trying to control what could or could not be taught about their past.
The wrong kind of fire
Fire has been essential for human development. Without the domestication of fire, humans couldn't migrate to inhospitable regions of the world.
Dhaka's urban politics, Haussmann, and related thoughts
After the tragic Chawkbazar inferno in Old Dhaka, I have been thinking about what it would take to bring some urban sanity to a complex megacity like Dhaka.
The political algorithm of 21st February
Understanding the political setting of the Language Movement and 21st February requires an examination of how religion played very different roles before and after the 1947 Partition in East Bengal.
The anatomy of a 'viral' picture
Last month while in a car on Mohakhali Road, going toward Gulshan One, I was intrigued by a dramatic footpath display. It was a large
Streets of the people, by the people, for the people
I had one of my most memorable “urban” experiences in Dhaka on Election Day. I roamed aimlessly around the city. The streets were filled with relaxed pedestrians. It was probably psychological, but the air felt fresh, even a bit aromatic! The usual cacophonous soundtrack of Dhaka streets was absent. There was no menacing truck to overrun me as I walked, no incessant honking to make me neurotic. Rickshaws appeared like the chariots of utopia. I saw carefree birds in city trees, chirping. It was an incredible feeling in the midst of our familiar congested and chaotic Dhaka.
Election manifestos, climate change and cities
In their election manifestos political parties would appear prudent if they address cities as the frontier for fighting the adverse effects of climate change. In the era of global warming, smart climate-change strategists around the world view the city as both a villain and an opportunity. Because, as much as they contribute to economic growth, cities also produce
Dhaka's origin myth
It is essential to understand the politics surrounding Dhaka's origin as a city. The prevailing mythology is that Dhaka is 400 years old.
Is housing for the urban poor a mere dream?
One of the most iconic public housing projects of the 20th-century was built in St Louis, Missouri, in the early 1950s, during a time of post-war optimism and construction boom in America. The Pruitt-Igoe housing project consisted of 33-housing blocks, each 11-storey high, and was arranged across a 57-acre site in the poverty-stricken DeSoto-Carr neighbourhood. Upon completion, the project was seen as an answer to the urgent problem of housing the urban poor.
The ironic life of African migrants in Paris
In Paris recently I noticed an extraordinary phenomenon unfolding around the Eiffel Tower during a casual afternoon stroll.
Living Small is Beautiful and Necessary
Last year I relocated to Dhaka and was desperately looking for a place to stay, close to where I would be teaching: BRAC University at Mohakhali. I didn't need a large apartment.
