Few may be familiar with current architectural developments in the tropical delta region of Bangladesh. On the architectural map of the world, this region, blessed with cultural and scenic richness, has hardly been present, a circumstance that is likely to change in the near future thanks to outstanding works of a vibrant architectural movement. The output of this "Bengal Stream" is not only spatially and architecturally extremely explosive, but also testifies to a high social relevance of the discipline of architecture. Through local action carefully developed from specific history and geography, current trends in Bangladesh acquire global significance. Participatory low-cost, environmental or social projects are often tackled by the same designers who receive commissions from a growing middle class and urban high-end segment.
Although the protagonists of today's leading generation of architects set individual priorities with their projects, they are bound together in a vital professional exchange and by overarching goals. Like an incessant stream, an ever-increasing number of players are working to establish the still young profession and to raise awareness of local culture, without closing themselves off to global influences. In the largest delta region on earth, veined by thousands of rivers, there seems to be an awareness that every kind of living culture is a combination of the original and the foreign.
In this way, Bangladesh's contemporary architectural movement follows the great master Muzharul Islam (1923-2012), whose original drawings are being exhibited here for the first time outside his homeland. Muzharul Islam strove to mediate between tradition and modernity, absorbing both the local and the international in equal measure in his architecture. It was in keeping with his self-image of an intercultural dialogue to bring Western protagonists such as his teacher Paul Rudolph and his student friend Stanley Tigerman, whom he met while studying architecture in the USA, and finally Louis I. Kahn to his homeland for important building assignments.
"Bengal Stream" does not take a romanticized look at Bangladesh's architectural development; rather, the exhibition stems from a concern to learn more about the architectural approach to substantial issues: what does it take to make good architectural spaces? Which materials make sense in which place and for which task, how can they unfold their effect? How can natural lighting and ventilation offer not only economic but also creative added value? It becomes clear that groundbreaking architecture is based on universally valid architectural elements such as light, space and proportion, irrespective of site-specific restrictions. "Bengal Stream" invites us on a journey to see our own culture anew through the discovery of the other.
Tours every Saturday and Sunday at 3 pm.
Text source and wmore information about this event: http://www.dam-online.de/
