PORTFOLIO
Academic | Professional
NAZIUR RAHMAN CHOWDHURY
MEMORY OF A PLACE
LANDSCAPE
DESIGN FOR A RESIDENTIAL CAMPUS OF A PRIVATE UNIVERSITY
This residential campus is one of its kind, dedicated to experiential learning and promotes a broad range of diverse skills and qualities, to complement the theoretical development that students undergo. Located within a close proximity from the capital city of Dhaka, the place is surrounded by residential and several other educational infrastructures With the continuum of time the surrounding environment condition has been deteriorating day by day. Once highly enriched with ecological and environmental diversity, the site is now losing its spirit and the harmony among space, landscape and people are being lost due to gradual expansions. Hence, the main challenges is to bring back the faded essence and the memory connected to that precinct
The existing plan of the residential campus lacks a balance between human and natural environment.There is at least 15% area in this campus which is unused or underused. According to current statistics the campus is mostly used by the regular students for about 9 months and for the rest of the time this is occupied by the trainees of some extended training programs. As time is passing by, the number of occupants is increasing day by day and is expected that the number of students will be doubled within next couple of years. As a result, the additional expenses regarding utilities and other services are rising as well In this situation it is a pressing need to re model the campus integrating natural balance and the increasing number of learners In the new landscape design, priority has given to native plant species and cultural aspects with the memory of the place to blend the built environment with surrounding context
My responsibilities : Directly working as an apprentice of Landscape Architect and Co-ordinating with other consultants as a project architect
Project Brief : BRAC Learning Centre (TARC) is a community living and learning space for BRAC University students. Students of every batch have to live therefor one trimester of their university life. It’s a place from where students can learn community living, lateral learning, learning by co-operat ng with each other. Th s campus is situatedabout20kmawayfromDhakacity Away fromcitylifeitiskindofaretreatforstudentswith an experience of living together in same place undersameroof. Some of the old buildings of the site has been demolished So There is a big empty land in the middle of the site.That will be the main space for landscape design. Beside that there is a large amount of unused negative spaces in the site By planting those area it will he p to create a biologicalconnectionbetweeninsideandoutside ofthesite
Project Goal : The goal is to Create a Diverse Ecoscape which will be Eco friendly safe Habitat for an mals ae
l and experientially pleasant and soothing The choice of plants w create a wonderful var ety of experience throughout the year. Students will learn the system of bio community from the differentgardensofthecampus.
Various types of gardens are introduced in the design to give the experience of different environment. Different gardens and water bodies are designed to keep the memory of the old buildings which will help to teach the students about the history of this place. Natural gardens like Dense forest garden, Natural Pond garden and Orchard garden will create the space for local bio-diversity
About the site : The campus is situated on Savar Upazilla. The land of the upazila is composed of alluvium soil of the Pleistocene period. The main tree of this area is‘Shaal (Shorea Robusta)’ A biodiversitysurveywasheldtoknowandanalyzethe Plant and animal diversity of the site The study revealed that 220 species of vascular plants, 51 speciesofbirds,11speciesofmammals,6species ofreptiles,5speciesofamphibiansand18species ofbutter iesweredistributedinthecampusarea. Among the total plant species diversity, there were64trees 88herbs,52shrubs,9climbersand 7palms. Plant
Nursery Area
Plaza walkway s a pedestrian path that connects two open plaza space Oval shaped sittings are ntroduced here encircl ng the trees
memory.
Bangla Roof Pavilion
Demolished buildings
GROUND LEVEL GARDENS
Creating different landscape experiences throughout the site and differentiating the activity patternwithlandscapedesign.Itisthemainfocusofthewholelandscapedesign.
BOUNDARYWALL GARDENS
Totalperipheralboundarywallisdividedintofoursectionstointroducefourdifferenttypesof garden. The non visible and less accessible part of the boundary wall is designed as dense forest type One of the visible portion is designed as productive vegetable garden and other part is as ornamental garden. And the wall that surrounded the nursery area is designed as experimentalgarden.
VERTICAL GARDEN
The main function of vertical garden is to experimenting with different vertical gardening options and to create a new type of building fenestration system which will not only beautify thefacadebutalsohelpstoprotectthedustandheat
INITIAL IDEAS FOR LANDSCAPE
ROOF GARDENS
Roof gardens are designed mostly for leisure and recreational purpose with the target of decreasingtheheatandincreasingoverallgreenfootprint
LANDSCAPE AS LONG DUREE & ENVIRONMENTAL ETHICS
Develop a landscape scheme for the site which is consistent with the philosophy of the residential semester of the BRAC un versity where an understanding of the layered history of the site and the environmental ethics and justice of the territory arethefundamentalprincipleofthedesign.
PROGRAMMATIC DIAGRAMWITH ACTIVITY
LANDSCAPE AS LEARNING LAB
Create a living laboratory that works with the seasons and processes of nature and allows students to actively engage n the continual culturaltransformationlandscape
LANDSCAPE AS PRODUCTIVE TERRITORY
des gn a number of orchard and vegetable gardens that can simultaneously add functions and beautytothelandscape
LANDSCAPE AS SYSTEM OFWATER MANAGEMENT
Combinewatermanagementofgray waterandrainwaterharvestingwith re ective, recreational water use and irr gation for productive andscapes to create ntegrated landscapesystem.
LANDSCAPE AS REGIONAL IDENTITY
Accentuate the local topography nat ve vegetat on, and andscape traditions
eption zone tial zone tion structures tures t and others tures
ACTIVITYTYPOLOGY IN LANDSCAPE
Celebrations Sitting Spaces RethinkingVegetation
Open Fairs
Layers OfVegetations
CO-CREATE JHENAIDAH
DESIGNING
A SMALL CITY BY PARTICIPATORY
APPROACH
Jhenaidah,asecondarycitywithapopulationofapproximately 2,56,000, is situated in the southwest of Bangladesh. A river named'Noboganga owsthroughthecitycentreofJhenaidah. LikemanyothersecondarycitiesofBangladesh,Jhenaidahalso lacked public spaces, whether in city-scale or in neighborhood scale, where men, women, children or elderly people could go anddoactivitiesfortheirphysicalandmentalwell-being.
Jhenaidah municipality has around three hundred ponds. People used to face their house towards ponds and used these for bathing, swimming shing and gathering around Now thesehavebecomethebackyardsfullofgarbageasifthereisno alternative better waste management system. A recent research shows that about 70% of children in the city do not know how to swim due to polluted water.This is alarming in a riverinecountrylikeBangladesh.
Since 2014, around 20 different groups got together and started to think about the possibilities of merging urban open spaces with the river, ponds, roads and pockets of lands The objective is double-folded; to nd people-friendly urban open spaces and to protect the water-bodies from private encroachment and pollution. Together the city people have developed a design strategy to improve the city's relationship withtheriver,bycreatingpublicspacesandinteractiveactions. When the collective dreams are visualized by all, the city authorities eventually realize the proposed design step-bystep
Contribution :
One of the volunteer Architects. Part of 4 different community workshop.
1. Planning, 2. Documentation, 3. Designing, 4.Visualization, 5. Preparing presentation Time line : 2017 - 2019
Ihadtheopportunitytoparticipateandorganize5differentworkshopswithcitypeopleregardingtheissueofabettercity. Citizensofdifferentage,gender,occupationandsocialclassparticipatedactivelyandsharedtheiropinionaboutapeople friendlyJhenaidahcity.Mostoftheworkshopswere3to4dayslonganddifferentnationalandinternationalorganizations joinedandsharedtheirexperiencesregardingcitydesign.Peopledrewtheirideas,mademodelsandpresentedtheirideas tothemunicipality Theseworkshopsnotonlyhelpedordinarycitizenstounderstandthepowerofcollectiveapproachbut alsocreatedabetterconnectionwiththeauthoritytosharethereneedsanddemands
The long term vision is to protect 5 kilometers of riverside from encroachment and pollution through connecting the riverside communities and developing required public open spaces for the communities or the whole city This 'required' public spacewillvaryfromcommunitytocommunity Itcan be a communal bathing space, a collective garden or a water garden dedicated forbiological treatment of wastewater etc. Incorporat ng public open space protects the public water bod es from illegal privatization through communal surveillance . In addition,thewastewatertreatmentbeforereleasing city's runoff and household wastewater to surface water bodies can be more controlled and effective Beside this, protecting and re-designing the small waterbodies to make them accessible and developing people friendly streets throughout the city are other long time goals.When people become aware of their rights and have right information in theirhand,anythingcouldbepossible.
After gathering peoples insights and ideas from workshops a group of architects designed and prepared visualizations of different spaces for presenting the outcome of the workshops to the local authorities.Then ordinary citizens presented these ndings and demanded their needs to the municipality mayor. Here we can see some of the design outcomes of the different workshops
Old jail and courthouse Hussain Shahid Suhrawardy Road
Post office Node
Nabaganga River Ghat
Shatbaria Community Ghat
Aarappur C&B Pond Ghat
IMPACT
Nabaganga River Ghat is partially and Shatbaria Community Ghat is fully constructed.This 115-metre-long“Nabaganga RiverGhat”hastwoplateauslinkedbyvariousstairwaysandarampforthedisabled,thelowerplateauremainingatleast 3.7metresabovethewater.Peopleofallagesandbackgrounds includingsomefromnearbytownsandvillages,regularly come here to walk, sit, meet, or engage in sport, cultural or recreational activities.The upper retaining wall serves on the lowerplateauasaverticalsurfaceforpublicexhibitions,andontheupperonejoinswithaparapetthatmeandersaround thepre-existingtrees–someoveracenturyold–tocreatesemi-enclosed,shadedareaswherepeoplecansitfacingeach other This ghat can also serve as a two-level auditorium for theatrical performances given on a oating deck or on the oppositeriverbank
The “Shatbaria Community Ghat” is directly connected to the water’s edge via a few steps Intended for and used extensively by one of the city’s largest low-income communities, where the majority are Hindu, it caters speci cally to theirneedsintermsofbathing,washingandpracticingreligiousrituals,withachangingroomandbenchesprovided. Mobilised by the community’s enthusiasm, Jhenaidah Municipality employed local craftspeople to execute the project, the architects providing pro-bono consultancy services.The mayor reports that representatives of over 50 municipalities havevisitedtolearnfromthesecommunityengagementprogrammes.
Winner of the‘Aga Khan Award for Architecture 2022’ and‘UIA 2030 Award.
LANDSCAPE PROPOSAL FOR A CONVENTIONAL PLOTTED HOUSING. PROJECT EVERGREEN
Purbachal American City’ is a plotted housing project developedbyUS-Banglagroup.Thewholehousingisdesigned in a very conventional manner The whole area is divided into many blocks in a grid pattern by connecting roads and streets. An arti cial canal is running through the project Various types of local and foreign plants are planted through the whole area without any proper planning Roads are mostly designed in a vehiclefriendlywayandthereisnotenoughpublicspace
Design concepts were developed by following these four principle.
The landscape proposal is a primary idea to show the owner of the project how to transform the whole scenario without changing the existing masterplan. How to make the whole project more human friendly by designing better streets and landscape Managementandredesigningtheconceptofroads inthelightofthegatedcommunity,wherehumans comes rst and cars comes second. Intelligent road design could provide extra play space, jogging area andwellwaterpermeability
Integrated Bio swale will enhance water drainage and add as an attractive part during the monsoon . Intelligent bio swa e will enhance landscape quality.
Shaded place of the whole complex needs special attention. Careful selection of tropical plants will ensurelivelinessofthemostshadowedplaceofthe masterplan.
Reimag ning the Landscape masterplan in the context of the site. Prior tiz ng Seasonal Color variation, Rainwater Management, Ecology and above all long term sustainability of the project. Thus we prioritize local plants for hardiness and easeofmaintenance
Thorough road vehicle speed: 60mph - 80mph
Access road vehicle speed: 30mph - 40mph
• 12feetwidefootpathforcomfortablepedestrian ow
• Plantation of canopy layer tree on footpath ensures shade for the pedestrians.
• Vehicularroaddividedintotwodifferentsections.
• Oneis24feetdoublelanecentralthroughsection.
• Otheris16feetAccessroadwithseparatebicyclelane.
• One 8 feetcentral median and two 14 feetGreen median is provided for properplantation,shadeandpublicaccess
• 12 feet wide footpath for comfortable pedestrian ow
• Plantation of Canopy layer tree ensures shade for the pedestrians
• 24 feet double lane vehicular road with 8 feet bicycle lane.
• 12 feet central green median for proper plantation, shade and public access.
Vehicle speed: 15mph - 20mph
Following the‘ ’Concept Woonerf
• Footpath and vehicular road is in the same layer but separated by material color.
• Paver material used for both vehicular and pedestrian access. Which will force the drivers to commute slowly.
• Green plantation patches are provided for blocking drivers clear vision thus to prevent high speed
• Bio - swale is proposed for drainage
Vehicle speed: 10mph - 15mph
Following the‘ ’Concept Woonerf
• Footpath and vehicular road is in the same layer but separated by material color
• Paver material used for both vehicular and pedestrian access.
• Green plantation patches are provided.
• 6 inch of level change from the peripheral road.
• Bio - swale proposed for drainage system.
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• Pocket of plants were created for generating dense garden and public space.
• Paver material used for both vehicular and pedestrian access.
• Wooden oating decks are provided for view.
• Pedestrian bridges are incorporated for public access.
• Forest like layered plantation is proposed for creating bio-diversity.
EMBRACING THE LEGECY
DESIGNING A MIXED USE BUILDING IN SADARGHAT AREA
When it comes to design in the older part of Dhaka city, realizing the macro and micro contexts is a prerequisite In the rst term of lth year we had to design a mixed use building at Sadarghat on an existing market place situated in the South West corner of Dhaka city. Sadarghat means the central boatlandingstationwhichhasahistoryofmorethan 400years.Thesiteislocatedoppositetothisterminal and required a very sensitive approach to merge a shopping experience w th community or social programs as well merge the old essence of Dhaka with the new commodities of future The site had to host various requirements like shopp ng area, communitycomplex,cineplex,banks,office,mosque etc.
Project type : Individual project Design studio IX 12 Credits 15 hr/week
Studio teachers : Dr. Nasreen Hossain Patrick De Rozario
Syed Abu Su an Kushol Ahammad-Al-Muhaymin Md.Tariquzzaman
ProjectYear : 2015
Location : Sadarghat, Dhaka, Bangladesh
The primary idea of the design is to capture the essence of old Dhaka by Creating a playfulness of space. Different types of spacesarecreatedheretoworkandcelebrate.AbigopenroofisprovidedtoenjoytheviewofBurigangariverandforholding different festivals like Shakrain and Holy (color festival). Central courtyard, open public plaza, rooftop restaurant, Cineplex, communitycenterallthosepublicspaceswillhelptocreateavibrantscenario
BIRDS EYEVIEW
Landscape Plan
Materials and hardscapes
Thesitewasasmallcornerlandofaunderdevelopedhousingproject.Thecontextwasasuburban one, very near to the capital city There is a river named Karnatali just beside the site The whole housing project is lack of good public facilities specially for children. there is no dedicated playzoneforsmallchildrenwheretheirgurdianscansitandenjoywhiletheyareplaying Andthe spaceforthesiteisinthebackofthehousingproject Soitwasneglectedforalongtime
The initial proposal addressed the lack of playspace issue by designing a open playspace with a playscape which includes various play instruments. Then the trees and plants were added as beauti cation,senseofboundaryandforcreatingasoothingenvironmentthroughouttheyear.A riverside ghat was introduced for other people to enjoy their le sure time. Rather than incorporatinglargescape interventions,thefutureproposaladoptedtoconceptualizethepublic space as landscape event, keeping the green areas mostly open and compacting the other facilities to a minimum footprint The choice of plantation deliberately adopted to re-infuse the native ora and fauna. Local fruit and ower trees were proposed to revive the local micro ecology.
