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Saif Ul Haque, Architect, Saif Ul Haque Sthapati, Bangladesh is presented an Aga Khan Award for Architecture 2019 certificate for the Arcadia Education Project, South Kanarchor, Bangladesh, by His Highness the Aga Khan and Mintimer Shaimiev, State Counselor of the Republic of Tatarstan.

Kirill Mikhailov

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Razia Alam, Chairperson, Maleka Welfare Trust, Bangladesh is presented an Aga Khan Award for Architecture 2019 certificate for the Arcadia Education Project, South Kanarchor, Bangladesh, by His Highness the Aga Khan and Mintimer Shaimiev, State Counselor of the Republic of Tatarstan.

Kirill Mikhailov

Culture

The Aga Khan Trust for Culture (AKTC) focuses on the physical, social, cultural and economic revitalisation of communities in the developing world. It gives the Aga Khan Award for Architecture every three years to projects that set new standards of excellence. The Award seeks to identify and encourage building concepts that successfully address the needs and aspirations of societies across the world, in which Muslims have a significant presence. Bangladesh has been strongly represented in these awards.


The site is flooded by monsoons during four months of each year. Conceived as anchored rafts, five modules house pre-school classrooms, an adult vocational workshop, and an office and water block separated by an open-air activity platform. The modules are aligned linearly and built entirely of bamboo. The unique, experimental substructure is anchored.to the ground with bamboo posts and consists, first, of bricks laid on the ground to create a level surface; used tyres are affixed atop the bricks for cushioning; and steel drums are located above the tyres, and covered with bamboo flooring. The roof of each module is a bamboo bow-arch; a tarpaulin is stretched across the arch and surfaced inside and out with.bamboo.
The site is flooded by monsoons during four months of each year. Conceived as anchored rafts, five modules house pre-school classrooms, an adult vocational workshop, and an office and water block separated by an open-air activity platform. The modules are aligned linearly and built entirely of bamboo. The unique, experimental substructure is anchored.to the ground with bamboo posts and consists, first, of bricks laid on the ground to create a level surface; used tyres are affixed atop the bricks for cushioning; and steel drums are located above the tyres, and covered with bamboo flooring. The roof of each module is a bamboo bow-arch; a tarpaulin is stretched across the arch and surfaced inside and out with.bamboo.

di Carlo Darsa, Sandro

In 2019, the Arcadia Education Project in South Kanarchor (designed by architect Mr Saif Ul Haque) won an Aga Khan Award for Architecture and Amber Loom Denim Shed in Gazipur (designed by architect Mr Jubair Hasan) was shortlisted.


Past winning projects in the country include the Bait Ur Rouf Mosque in Dhaka (designed by architect Ms Marina Tabassum) and the Friendship Centre in Gaibandha (designed by architect Mr Kashef Chowdhury), the Grameen Bank Housing Programme, the National Assembly Building and a school in Rudrapur. Two other projects were shortlisted in 2010.


Ms Tabassum was on the Steering Committee for the 14th Award Cycle (2017-2019) and is on the current Steering Committee (2020-2022). The nine-member Master Jury for the 2020-2022 Award cycle includes renowned Bangladeshi architect – Mr Kazi Khaleed Ashraf, Director General of the Bengal Institute for Architecture, Landscapes and Settlements, Dhaka.


This year, two projects have been shortlisted:



  • Community Spaces in the Rohingya Refugee Camp, Teknaf, Bangladesh, by Rizvi Hassan, Khwaja Fatmi, Saad Ben Mostafa: Sustainably built structures in the world’s largest refugee camps, which occurred collaboratively in the field without drawings or models.

  • Urban River Spaces, Jhenaidah, Bangladesh, by Co.Creation.Architects / Khondaker Hasibul Kabir, Suhailey Farzana: A community-driven project providing public spaces in a riverine city with 250,000 residents, offering walkways, gardens and cultural facilities, as well as environmental efforts to increase biodiversity along the river.


The Award ceremony will take place in Muscat, Oman in October 2022.


AKTC has worked with the Faculty of Architecture at BRAC University to survey Islamic heritage in Bangladesh. These efforts will contribute to over 9,000 building projects that have been documented and are now available on archnet.org. They range from rural schools to urban water towers, from state-of-the-art skyscrapers to modest mud-brick structures.