Bengal Stream. The Vibrant Architecture Scene of Bangladesh
The exhibition has been extended until 24/06/2018.
From the 2nd of December 2017 to the 24th of June 2018, the Swiss Architecture Museum S AM is presenting the exhibition ‘Bengal Stream: The Vibrant Architecture Scene of Bangladesh’, curated by Niklaus Graber, Andreas Ruby and Viviane Ehrensberger.
Produced in cooperation with the Bengal Institute for Architecture, Landscapes and Settlements, Dhaka
With ‘Bengal Stream’ S AM is the first museum worldwide to present an exhibition on Bangladesh’s architecture. In a chequered historical sequence of events, various trends have expressed themselves in different architectural ways, according to religious or socio-cultural developments. Nevertheless, many underlying motifs have held their ground in a typological sense for centuries and even represent a valid foundation for today's architectural trends. Modernism also used these as a basis on which to build, whereby the most important local protagonist was Muzharul Islam. It was also in keeping with his personal identity, situated between localism and internationalism, to bring international protagonists like Paul Rudolph, Stanley Tigerman and ultimately Louis I. Kahn to Bangladesh for important construction projects. In ‘Bengal Stream’, original drawings by Muzharul Islam are exhibited for the first time outside of his native Bangladesh. The main focus of this exhibition is on contemporary positions. Many of today's protagonists were students, assistants or companions of Muzharul Islam and in recent decades they have formed an independent architecture scene that carries the societal and architectural concerns of their predecessors forwards in a contemporary way. Again and again, it is this loose group who, despite dynamic global pressure to develop, collectively stand up for architectural values and for an awareness of Bengali culture. The exhibition ‘Bengal Stream’ brings together over 60 projects by established and emerging architects in Bangladesh. One of the most internationally prominent architectural photographers, Iwan Baan, was brought in to document the projects.
When the exhibition opens, a Christoph Merian Verlag publication with the same title will also be released. This catalogue covers all the presented projects and looks at the exhibition's themes in greater depth, with essays by the curators, as well as by local experts Kazi Khaleed, Saif Ul Haque and Manzoorul Islam.
photo credits:
1_ Architect's Home & Studio Farmgate, Dhaka
Architect: Bashirul Haq & Associates
Copyright: Iwan Baan
2_Shuktara Nature Retreat, Khadimnagar, Sylhet
Copyright: Iwan Baan
3_Friendship Centre Gaibhanda
Architect: URBANA / Kashef Mahboob Chowdhury
Copyright: Iwan Baan
4_Bait Ur Rouf Mosque Faydabad, Dhaka
Architect: MTA / Marina Tabassum Architects
Copyright: Iwan Baan
5_Arcadia School, Alipur, Keraniganj
Architect: Saif Ul Haque Sthapati
Copyright: Iwan Baan
6_Loom Shed for Amber Denim, Gazipur
Architect: Archeground Ltd.
Copyright: Iwan Baan
7_Café Mango, Dhanmondi, Dhaka
Architect: Atelier Robin / Salauddin Ahmed
Copyright: Iwan Baan
Accompanying Programme:
Wednesday-Mattinée at S AM
29.11.2017, 10am-12pm
Behind the scene – guided tour through the exhibition installation
Admission: CHF 10.- (red. CHF 5.-)
Language: German
Opening ‘Bengal Stream’
01.12.2017, 7pm
with a welcoming greeting by Elisabeth Ackermann, district president Canton Basel-Stadt,
and Abul Khair, Chairman Bengal Foundation
Public Guided Tours
14.12.2017, 25.1., 8.2., 8.3., 19.4., 3.5., 7.6.2018
at 6 pm
Admission: CHF 12.-, red. CHF 10.-
Symposium: When the Jamuna meets the Rhine
Learning from Recent Architecture of Bangladesh
2.12.2017, 9.30am-5pm
Place: Alte Universität Basel, Rheinsprung 9/11, 4051 Basel
Language: English
Basel Museum Night at S AM
‘Bengal Style – from old to new’
19.01.2018 18.00-02.00 H
Guided Tours: 8pm and 10pm, 30 min. each
Workshop: Keep that paper!, 7pm-11pm
Lecture series
Place Ackermannshof, St. Johanns-Vorstadt 21, 4056 Basel
Admission: CHF 12.-, red. CHF 8.-
Language: English
15.02.2018, 7PM
Lecture: ‘The Modernist Muzharul Islam’, Nurur Rahman Khan
15.03.2018, 7PM
Lecture: ‘The poor cannot afford poor solutions’, Runa Khan
12.04.2018, 7PM
Lecture: ‘Co-creating space’, Khondaker Hasibul Kobir
March 2018
Films from Bangladesh at Stadtkino Basel
Programme: from 22.2.2018, www.stadtkinobasel.ch
