THE GRUDGING URBANIST
Shamsul Wares: A teacher who inspired generations of architects
Aristotle once said, “Those who know, do. Those who understand, teach.” Shamsul Wares understood, and hence taught.
Faujdarhat Cadet College / A post-Partition heritage campus worth preserving
FCC should not be viewed simply as one of the cadet colleges; it is a heritage campus that can be showcased to the world.
Planning for Dhaka's new night
Dhaka should be readied for a nighttime culture that offers a potpourri of entertainment options to people.
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.
Can the Metro Rail be a Great Equalizer?
A “new” type of urban mobility comes to fruition in the month of the country’s emancipation
Footpaths of Bangladesh: Our complicated relationship with walking
Walking, sadly, is not part of our shared value system, and there are many reasons behind this.
Researching Rural Transformation 2.0 in Bangladesh
We need new research methodologies to understand the complex nature of the rural change in Bangladesh in the last two decades.
Mid-sized cities are our new urban frontier
A resilient and adjustable urban development policy for mid-sized cities is necessary to decentralise Dhaka.
Rural Bangladesh needs next-generation village roads
The streets of rural Bangladesh should value the safety and wellbeing of its users.
Understanding Rural Transformation 2.0 in Bangladesh
The traditional mental image of rural Bangladesh that we have is no longer a reality.
There is just one way to save Dhaka
The notoriety of Dhaka’s traffic is now daily news. Civil society members have been venting frustration about this maddening crisis.