At Dhaka launch, Aga Khan Award-winning architect Kashef Chowdhury says climate, memory and human resilience must guide architecture, as his monograph documents three decades of context-sensitive practice in Bangladesh today.
Dhaka, Jan 31 – Aga Khan Award-winning Bangladeshi architect Kashef Mahbub Chowdhury on Saturday said architecture in climate-vulnerable regions like Bangladesh cannot be reduced to form or aesthetics alone, stressing that responding meaningfully to climate pressure, human resilience and local realities is its core responsibility.
He was speaking at the launch of his new monograph Meditations in Entropy: The Work of Kashef Chowdhury at the Crowne Plaza ballroom in Gulshan, Dhaka, on Saturday evening. The event was organised by ArchiCannect.
According to a press release, Chowdhury described architecture as a “deep and sensitive response to climate, geography and collective memory.” He said the book emerged from nearly two decades of experience working on climate-sensitive social projects, adding that it is not a celebration of architectural objects but a reflection of process where restraint, context and empathy give rise to architecture.
Published by Zurich-based Park Books, the volume is the first comprehensive monograph on the work of URBANA. Spanning more than 500 pages, the book documents three decades of architectural practice through sketches, drawings, photographs and analytical texts. It traces the history of 18 realised projects across different scales.
The monograph features photography by internationally renowned architectural photographer Hélène Binet and includes critical essays by Kenneth Frampton, William J. R. Curtis, Robert McCarter, Ainun Nishat and Philip Ursprung.
The chief guest at the event, Education Ministry adviser Professor C. R. Abrar, said Chowdhury’s work demonstrates how design can offer intelligent and sensitive responses to the challenges of climate change and urbanisation. He described the book as informative and accessible, highlighting its examples of low-cost yet effective use of light and ventilation through careful analysis of limited resources and geography.
Swiss Ambassador to Bangladesh Reto Renggli attended as a special guest and said the book would serve as a milestone for future architectural practice.
Speakers at the event also included climate expert Professor Dr Ainun Nishat, eminent architect and educator Professor Shamsul Wares and Institute of Architects Bangladesh president Dr Abu Sayeed M Ahmed. They described the publication as an important architectural document rooted in local realities that has brought Bangladesh’s architectural practice into global discourse.
Prominent architects, academics, urban planners, students, cultural figures and media professionals were present at the programme.
