Authors: Adnan Morshed, Amparo Porta, Basurama (Mónica Gutiérrez Herrero and Rubén Lorenzo Montero), Héctor Fernández Elorza, Iñaki Alday, Jesús Arcos, Javed Jalil, Javier Sánchez Merina, Jesús María Aparicio Guisado, Kuntal Barai, Maksuda Iqbal Nipa, Marian Planelles, Paco Mejias Villatoro, Pierre Auclair-Desmoulins, Rensje Teerink, Rúben García Rubio, SajidBin-Doza, Salma Abedin Prithi, Shahidul Alam, Silvia Rovelli, Tanzil Shafique and Tor Torhaug. Concept: Alejandra López García Graphic Design: David Palazón (www.davidpalazon.com) Editorial Coordination: Ariadna A. Garreta Project Coordination: Fahd Bin Malek Newaz Translation: David González-Iglesias Copyright © AECID, Agencia Española de Cooperación Internacional para el Desarrollo and Altrim Publishers, 2018 Published by: Agencia Española de Cooperación Internacional para el Desarrollo Catálogo general de publicaciones oficiales de la Administración General del Estado https://publicacionesoficiales.boe.es Altrim Publishers Passeig de Manuel Girona 55 08034 Barcelona (Spain) www.altrim.net First edition, November 2018. Printed and bound in Bangladesh. Second edition, December 2018. Printed and bound in India. NIPO: 502-18-075-2 NIPO (online): 502-18-076-8 ISBN: 978-84-942342-7-9 Depósito Legal: B 26853-2018 Text © Authors Drawings and pictures © Authors (as cited on p. 174) All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or distributed in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise or stored in a database or retrieval system without the prior written permission of the Publishers. This publication has been possible thanks to the Spanish Agency for International Development Cooperation (AECID). The content of the book does not necessarily reflect the views and opinions of AECID. This publication is part of the editorial programme of the former Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation and it has been edited by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the European Union and Cooperation, according to the restructuring of ministerial departments established by Royal Decree 355/2018 of June 6).
DHAKA ঢাকা ট�োটেম
TABLE OF CONTENTS
DHAKA TOTEM PROJECT | An introduction | 06
LOCATION MAP | 08
01 02
LE CORBUSIER & LOUIS KAHN VISIT DHAKA | Adnan Morshed | 11
RECONSTRUCTING THE UTOPIA, NOT ONLY WITH CONCRETE. GROUNDHOG DAY | Marian Planelles | 17
03
SOMEWHERE? NOWHERE? IN TRANSIT – LOOKING AT DHAKA TRAFFIC | Tor Torhaug | 29
04 05
FLIGHT 001 | Salma Abedin Prithi | 37
DHAKA, FROM THE INFORMAL SPACE TO THE SPACES OF SILENCE | Héctor Fernández Elorza | 43
06
THE UNIVERSITY OF DHAKA | Amparo Porta | 53
07
REVISITING THE MOSQUE | Shahidul Alam | 61
08 09
I ♥ KARAIL | Javier Sánchez Merina | 69
LEARNING FROM DHAKA, BORDERS AND LIMITS OF A DENSE REALITY | Jesús María Aparicio Guisado | 79
10 11 12
OLD DHAKA, PEOPLE AND THEIR JOBS | Silvia Rovelli | 91
GEOGRAPHY AS A PUBLIC SPACE | Iñaki Alday & Jesús Arcos | 101
IN THE OPEN AIR: PUBLIC SPACE, GARBAGE, INFORMALITY AND ENCOUNTER | Basurama (Mónica Gutiérrez Herrero & Rubén Lorenzo) | 109
13
KARAIL BEYOND THE ‘SLUM’: AN ASSEMBLAGE IN DHAKA’S CENTRE | Tanzil Shafique & Paco Mejias Villatoro | 117
14 15 16
DISPLACED IN DHAKA | Kuntal Barai | 139
THE DENSITIES OF DHAKA | Rúben García Rubio | 147
VOICES FROM THE CONCRETE | Maksuda Nipa Iqbal & Javed Jalil | 151
17 18
RESILIENCE | Rensje Teerink | 155
DHAKA TABOU | Pierre Auclair-Desmoulins | 159
ABOUT THE AUTHORS | 170
ADDITIONAL CREDITS & ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS | 174
DHAKA TOTEM | An Introduction
Dear reader, We wish to thank you for having this book in your hands. You probably opened it on a random page, without a plan, in an attempt to satisfy the curiosity that we may have been able to awaken with the haphazardly arranged letters of the title on the cover. You may have wondered whether this is a travel guide, a book of short stories or a collection of essays on the city after which it has been named. Our first objective in this edition is to arouse curiosity among readers and visitors of bookshops and libraries. If we managed to achieve that goal through the graphical layout of the cover, we may as well reveal now why it is called Dhaka Totem, and we invite you to roam through its pages in the unknown and enigmatic capital of Bangladesh. Welcome on board.
THE TITLE We opted for the fullness of these four syllables that reverberate with primitive myths and tribal rites that might still exist in this urban jungle made up of asphalt animals, billboards with neon lights and signs that show the routes and stops of urban transport. In spite of the enigmatic nature of the title, its explanation does not hold any mysteries, and although the book ends with a chapter called Dhaka Taboo, which may remind us of the book written by the Austrian psychoanalyst Sigmund Freud, Totem und Tabu, there is no such relationship or parallelism in them, and the name is the result of mere chance. 6
THE PROJECT It all started with one person: Professor Adnan Morshed, Director of the Chair of Architecture in the BRAC University of Dhaka in the years 2017 and 2018. Those of us who have worked on this book are indebted to him and to his efforts to bring Spanish architects to Dhaka to participate in training initiatives and conferences over those years. Attracted perhaps by that totem of contemporary architecture, the building of the Parliament of Bangladesh designed by Louis Kahn, or maybe by their curiosity and a large dose of professionalism, different Spanish architects visited the city and this parade of talented workers was a great success. The Embassy of Spain in Dhaka supported Professor Morshed in his endeavour and had the idea of creating this book with the texts, drawings and photographs produced by the visiting architects. This project has received the help of collaborators from different countries and walks of life. Some of them have been living in this city for years, even if they are only passing through, and others were born here. They all have something to say about the city in which they live and which lives in them. Please fasten your seatbelts, put your mobile phones in flight mode and your seats in the position which you find most comfortable. Dhaka, October 2018 Alejandra Lรณpez Deputy Head of Mission Embassy of Spain in Dhaka
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LOCATION MAP
BANGLADESH বাংলাদেশ Land area: 147,570km2 Population: 166.37 million in 2018 (open sources) Currency: Benhgali Taka (TK) Language: Bangla or Bengali (official)
INDIA
INDI
A
DHAKA
1 2
MYANMAR BAY OF BENGAL
1. Cox’s Bazar. Largest beach in the world 2. Sundarbans. Largest mangrove forest in the world
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5
DHAKA ঢাকা 1. Parliament Building AIRPORT
2. Shaheed Suhrawardy Medical College and Hospital 3. Bangladesh Air Force Museum 4. Dhaka University 5. Bait Ur Rouf Mosque 6. Karail 7. Kamalapur Railway Station
UE GULSHAN AVEN
6
8
MIRPUR
RD
AIRPOR
T AVEN UE
8. Baridhara
3
2 1
7
GA AN
G RI BU
4 OLD DHAKA
ER
V RI 9
10
01
LE CORBUSIER AND LOUIS KAHN VISIT DHAKA
Adnan Morshed
At a public place in the afterlife, Louis Kahn ran into Le Corbusier. The Franco-Swiss architect was pleased to see the esoteric guru from Philadelphia. They sat on a Henry Moore bench, custom-built for eternal life, under a leafy tree. As one would imagine, it was not easy for two heavyweights to strike up a conversation. After an uneasy pause Corbu asked, “So, I hear you designed the large parliament complex in Dhaka which was first offered to me?” Looking away at a heavenly bird that chirped on a nearby tree, Kahn replied, “Yes. In 1965, when you perished during your Mediterranean swim in the south of France, I was actually in Dhaka. We worked feverishly to get the design work for the Parliament done before agitation for independence in the then East Pakistan would take it all away. Politically, it was a tempestuous time there. Bengalis were very unhappy that West Pakistan’s ruling elite was depriving them both politically and economically. The streets in Dhaka were rough. But I kept my cool and went on with the work. So, why did you not accept the Dhaka project?” “Well, I was too tired after Chandigarh. During the 1950s, the Indian bureaucracy kind of drained me. I just couldn’t take on a grand new commission in the Subcontinent! By the way, did you visit Chandigarh?”
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04
FLIGHT 0001 Salma Abedin Prithi
Flight 0001 is an imaginary flight of the destitute people of Bangladesh, a country highly dependent on migration and international remittances. It was really surprising for Prithi to see hundreds of people in an airforce museum trying to get inside a plane that will never fly. These are all ordinary people of Dhaka paying a dollar to experience an airplane, which is not affordable for many in real life. They could travel miles on a bus with the same amount of money but they checked in to an imaginary flight to experience it for the first time. Prithi saw ordinary ladies ready to take off from the cockpits who might work in garments or any cheap labour industry. It was absolute freedom to have a break from their mundane reality. But the more Prithi photographed the pseudo passengers, the more she could relate the scenes with migrant issues which remain uncertain and scary for many labourers of the city.
Dreaming of a better income often pushes them to a barren desert or an unknown locality far from their loved ones. Some lose their connections and some never return. A real flight might often seem too scary to take off. The museum only stays as a metaphor in Prithi’s work to explore an unreal flight which turns to both desire and nightmare for the working class people of Dhaka.
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09
LEARNING FROM DHAKA: BORDERS AND LIMITS OF A DENSE REALITY Jesús Mª Aparicio Guisado
I am writing this text on occasion of a recent trip that took me to Dhaka, the capital city of Bangladesh. From the very beginning I was able to interpret the city as a dense overlapping of different social, economic, political, religious and cultural realities, among others (fig. 1 and 2). There are parallel lives that inevitably end up crossing paths because of density and also out of necessity: the need to survive for some and the need to become wealthier for others. This encounter does not seem to be able, by now, to create an area of exchange and of shared interests that goes beyond its mere ad hoc usefulness.
Fig. 1 (left page) and fig. 2 (above). View of Dhaka from a high building in the western area. © Jesús Mª Aparicio Guisado, 2018.
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GEOGRAPHY AS A PUBLIC SPACE Iñaki Alday & Jesús Arcos
ecological and urban crisis _ the lack of public spaces The migration of the population from rural areas to large cities as a strategy of economic survival is a demographic phenomenon that takes place all over the world and particularly in the so-called ‘Global South’. According to the forecast of the United Nations, populations will continue growing in cities until 2050. However, together with economic migration, the effects of climate change are intensifying the exodus of the population from areas that have suffered environmental catastrophes—long periods of drought, hurricanes, landslides, etc. Bangladesh is subject to severe environmental risks with a direct impact on urban growth and on the relationship between the cities and the territory. Because of the topography of its mountains, 15% of the surface of the country is expected to be affected by regular floods or to be completely sunken under rising sea levels during the 21st century. The potential migratory impact of tens of millions of people on the main metropolis of the country without basic infrastructures or planning may represent an unprecedented social and urban catastrophe. Many of these immigrants have and will continue to have Dhaka as their destination. The capital city of the country has grown at a vertiginous pace since the end of World War II, when it had approximately 300,000 inhabitants, reaching over 18 million people who live in Greater Dhaka today, and 27 million expected by 2030.
Therefore, its population has increased by 9,000% over the last 85 years. This continuous growth is also compounded by high birth rates, particularly among those sectors of the population with the fewest resources, and these rates do not seem to be decreasing, despite the efforts of several information campaigns that the national and 101
guidelines in the plan that is being analysed by the Dhaka South City Corporation, which is promoted by the World Bank and planned and designed by aldayjover architecture and landscape. If it is finally implemented, it will be the first systematic initiative for the creation of public spaces since the country proclaimed its independence. The success of this program would represent the beginning of the reversion of decades of mistreatment and neglect against the backbone of the city—the Buriganga River and its tributaries—, with an enormous potential for ecological and social improvement, and a new approach for the behaviour of citizens towards the public sphere.
Public spaces—parks, squares, avenues— are the ‘thermometer’ that measures the democratic health and the level of equality in the city. It shows the capacity to include, respect and protect the weakest members of society—women, children and people with disabilities. Through its alliance with its own geography, Dhaka has exceptional potential for conversion, which must necessarily be gradual, but which can generate emblematic spaces with powerful beauty to spearhead an urgent social and environmental transformation.
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138 Kuntal Barai. Wheel of Dhaka 06, 2014. Mixed media on board. 120 cm x 150 cm
14
DISPLACED IN DHAKA Kuntal Barai
Citizen Unsettled নাগরিক বিচ্ যুতি Displaced in Dhaka বাস্তুচ্ যুত হয়েছে ঢাকা Overfilled Dhaka City is increasingly becoming pale. The influx তিল�োত্তমা শহর ঢাকা ক্রমশ হয়ে উঠছে বিবর্ণ। নাগরিকায়নের চাপে ইটof citizens is causing disorder in this city of concrete. The highপাথরের নগরটিতে চলছে চূ ড়ান্ত বিশৃ ঙ্খল। উর্ধমুখী ভবনের ভিড়ে ঢেকে rise buildings are covering the sky. This city has lost its beauty to যাচ্ছে আকাশ। যান আর জনজটের চাপে সবটু কু স�ৌন্দর্য হারিয়ে বসবাসের unmanageable traffic and has become uninhabitable. The streets of অয�োগ্য হয়ে উঠছে এই শহর। রাজধানী ঢাকার রাস্তার নিত্য দিনের কর্ম Dhaka experience a lot of incidents every busy day. Also the waste ব্যস্ত জীবনে ঘটে অসংখ্য ঘটনা। আর যানজট এর কারনে সময়ের অপচয় of time because of congestion is increasing. This is crossing its limit বেড়ে চলছে দিন দিন। যার সীমানা ভয়ঙ্কর রুপ নিচ্ছে।অপরিকল্পিত to create a horrible picture. With the unplanned growth, Dhaka বিকাশের সঙ্গে সঙ্গে ঢাকা তার সঙ্কটের চূ ড়ান্তে প�ৌঁছে গেছে। জনসংখ্যার has reached the peak of its crisis. Population burst, developmentবিস্ফোরণ, যানজট, উন্নয়ন-উন্মত্ততা এবং অস্বাস্থ্যকর পরিস্থিতি madness and unhealthy conditions are at their worst level. Yet, সর্বকালের সর্বোচ্চ সীমায় প�ৌঁছে গেছে। এই বিশৃ ঙ্খলার মধ্যেও ক�োথাও somewhere in this chaos remains a balance which can bring a জীবনের একটা সমন্বয় বিরাজ করে যার ভেতর দিয়ে একটি নতু ন তত্ত্ব new theory of living. I have created a combination of art and হয়ত�ো একদিন বের হয়ে আসবে। আমি রং আর রেখার আশ্রয়ে সৃজিত architecture with the help of colour and lines in order to present চিত্রকর্মের সঙ্গে স্থাপনাশিল্পের সমন্বয়ে উপস্থাপিত করেছি নগরের সেই the story of this pale city. বিবরত ্ণ ার আখ্যান।
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Kuntal Barai. Sight and Sound 6, 2018. Acryllic on canvas. 60 cm x 120 cm
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ABOUT THE AUTHORS Adnan Morshed Adnan Morshed is an architect, architectural historian and urbanist. He received his Ph.D. and Master’s Degree in Architecture from MIT and Bachelor’s Degree from the Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology, where he has also taught. Currently, he teaches at the School of Architecture and Planning, The Catholic University of America, Washington, DC. He is the author of several books and frequently contributes op-eds to various newspapers and online forums.
Amparo Porta Rivas Amparo Porta Rivas has been living and working in Bangladesh since 2011, the year she moved to the country from the University of Santiago de Compostela to take charge of the coordination of the Inditex Chair of Spanish Language and Culture in the University of Dhaka.
Basurama (Mónica Gutiérrez Herrero & Rubén Lorenzo) Basurama is a collective dedicated to research, creation and cultural and environmental production founded in 2001 that has its area of study and action in production processes, generation of waste involved with it and the creative possibilities originating from these contemporary factors. Born in the School of Architecture in Madrid, Basurama aims to study phenomena inherent in the mass production of real and virtual garbage, raising questions, not only about our way of exploiting resources, but also about our way of thinking, of working, of perceiving reality. Basurama has completed more than 100 projects in four continents, is based in Madrid and has a permanent office in Sao Paulo (Brazil) and Bilbao (Spain).
Héctor Fernández Elorza Héctor Fernández Elorza (Zaragoza 1972) is an architect from the Superior Technical School of Architecture of Madrid (ETSAM). He combines teaching and research with construction. His work has been published and widely exhibited both both in Spain and abroad.
Iñaki Alday & Jesús Arcos Iñaki Alday, together with Margarita Jover, founded aldayjover architecture and landscape. Jesús Arcos joined the firm in 2004 and later became the third partner. Aldayjover is a multidisciplinary research-based practice, focused on innovation and on the specific character of the place. The work is particularly renowned by its leadership in a new approach to the relation between cities and rivers. Professor Alday is the Dean of Tulane School of Architecture and Co-Director of the Yamuna River Project.
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Javed Jalil Javed Jalil is a visual artist and art writer known for his visual palette of fictional non-fictional interplay and linear intricate composition. His academic qualifications include: Major in Art, Kansas Bethany College, 1987; Philosophy Art, Los Angeles City College, 1990, in addition to contributing articles, criticism and analysis on arts in news dailies, magazines, art magazines and art catalogues.
Javier Sánchez Merina In the last 20 years he has taught at Kingston University London, Carleton University Ottawa and Alicante University, where he is now Assistant Professor of Architecture Design Studio. His classes, writings and buildings establish relationships between teaching, research and society. The Workshops of Instant Constructions with students are his main source of inspiration.
Jesús Aparicio Guisado Jesús Aparicio Guisado is a Ph.D. of Architecture and Professor of Architectural Projects of the Superior Technical School of Architecture of Madrid (ETSAM). As a researcher he has obtained the Scholarship from the Academy of Spain in Rome, the Fulbright Scholarship / MEC and the Bankia Scholarship. His double facet of theoretical research and construction projects has been published widely nationally and internationally.
Kuntal Barai Kuntal Barai is an emerging young painter with a BFA and MFA in the Painting Department of the University of Development Alternative. He recently received an honorary award at the 17th Asian Art Biennale Bangladesh for his installation work. His passion for painting started to grow after his Higher Secondary Certificate (Junior college) exams. He has participated in more than 20 group exhibitions and has recently held his first solo exhibition.
Maksuda Iqbal Nipa Maksuda Iqbal Nipa is known for her colourful abstractions, often composed on very large canvases. She completed her Master of Education in Fine Art (painting) from Aichi University of Education, Japan.
Marian Planelles Spanish architect, urbanist and aid worker. Extreme restlessness has led her to pack her bags over the last 13 years living outside of Spain. She has lived in Germany, Mexico, Holland, Canada, Bolivia, Bulgaria and Bangladesh, countries where she has developed herself academically, professionally and personally. Countries, places, but above all, people and moments which undoubtedly complete one’s transformation and growth, which increase one’s global view of the world, its culture, architecture and development, which make us understand that we are all one. Love. 171
Paco Mejias Villatoro Paco Mejias Villatoro is an architect, urban planner, and teacher. He holds a Ph.D. in Architectural Theory and Design from the Superior Technical School of Architecture of Madrid (ETSAM). He has been teaching Architecture since 1997 in Spain, Canada, Turkey and the U.S.A., and he is currently an Associate Professor in the Department of Architecture at the Xi’an Jiaotong-Liverpool University in Suzhou, China. He codirects the think-and-do tank Estudio Abierto/Open Studio (https://www. thisstudioisopen.org/)
Pierre Auclair-Desmoulins Pierre Auclair-Desmoulins studied the performing arts and worked as a dancer until the age of 30. He then changed his career. As Chargé de Mission in the field of public administration and international relations, he has been in Bangladesh since 2015.
Rensje Teerink Rensje Teerink, an anthropologist by training, took up photography in the 1980s while conducting fieldwork in western India, using a Minolta XD7. She switched to digital photography when discovering she could use her old Minolta lenses with the Sony NEX system without having to invest in an adaptor. The photographs were taken with a Sony A7r II. Rensje Teerink currently lives in Dhaka with her husband and two Nepali dogs, and works for the European Union Delegation.
Rubén García Rubio Rubén García Rubio, Ph.D. in Architecture from the University of Valladolid (2016); and Ph.D. in Architecture from the University of Roma Tre (2016). Currently, he is Assistant Professor at Al Ghurair University in Dubai (UAE) and combines it with his research activity in several university projects and his works in his architectural office RRa. He is also the Editor-in-Chief for www.CajondeArquitecto.com, a weblog on Architecture.
Sajid-Bin-Doza Born in Rajshahi Division, head quarter of North Bengal. Dr. Doza received a UN scholarship and went for doctoral studies in the University of Evora, Portugal and finished his Ph.D. in 2016. His specialization on doctoral study was History of Arts; Dr. Doza is the Associate Professor of Architecture at BRAC University of Bangladesh. His journey through art & architecture is fascinating and full of observation and practice. He organized 8 solo sketches exhibitions on the cultural heritage of Bangladesh at home and abroad.
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Salma Abedin Prithi Salma Abedin Prithi’s photographs investigate the vulnerability and psychological struggle of ordinary people. During her graduation in photography at Pathshala South Asian Media Institute, she met different people of Dhaka and realized how sensitive and psychological people are, even when they are going through hard physical realities. Prithi is particularly interested on rituals and women’s iconography.
Shahidul Alam Shahidul Alam is a Bangladeshi photographer and writer with a special interest in education and new media having obtained a BSc from the Liverpool University and a Ph.D. in Organic Chemistry from London University. He has set up multiple institutions including award-winning Drik Picture Library, the Bangladesh Photographic Institute and Pathshala, the South Asian Media Academy. His work has been exhibited in leading museums including the Museum of Modern Art in New York. He has published several books including ‘My Journey as a Witness’, listed in the ‘Best Photo Books of the year 2001’ compilation by American Photo Magazine. He has also held a number of positions in a wide range of institutions including his work as Chairman of the International Jury of World Press Photo.
Silvia Rovelli Silvia Rovelli is an Italian development worker based in Bangladesh since April 2014, keen on dealing with several local communities and exploring the world and its beauties. As an amateur photographer, She loves to capture people in their daily lives, environment and activities. As a food lover, she believes that only through the different kinds of cuisines and recipes you can really understand people’s culture.
Tanzil Shafique Tanzil Shafique co-directs Estudio Abierto / Open Studio and is currently a Ph.D. Candidate at the University of Melbourne where he also leads graduate design studios. In addition, he is a Research Associate of InfUrInformal Urbanism Research Hub. He holds an M.Arch from the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in New York.
Tor Torhaug Tor Andreas Torhaug, born in 1957 in Oslo. Resident of Dhaka since September 2016, as accompanying spouse to a Norwegian diplomat. Also a second-year student of the professional photography course at Pathshala South Asian Media Institute in Dhaka. In another life, librarian at Oslo University Library.
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We wish to thank you for having this book in your hands. You probably opened it on a random page, without a plan, in an attempt to satisfy the curiosity that we may have been able to awaken with the haphazardly arranged letters of the title on the cover. You may have wondered whether this is a travel guide, a book of short stories or a collection of essays on the city after which it has been named. Our first objective in this edition is to arouse curiosity among readers and visitors of bookshops and libraries. If we managed to achieve that goal through the graphical layout of the cover, we invite you to roam through its pages in the unknown and enigmatic capital of Bangladesh. Welcome on board.
ISBN 978-84-942342-7-9