Restore Askar Dighi, revive Chattogram’s ecological memory
3 August 2026
In any civilised society, a historic reservoir such as Askar Dighi would have been protected as a public heritage asset. What can we do today?
3 August 2026
The moral calculus of footpath evictions in Dhaka
27 April 2026
The footpaths of Dhaka have again become a political flashpoint of late.
27 April 2026
The promises and perils of a ‘Notun Tej’ in Bangladeshi architecture
28 February 2026
Nearly a hundred years ago, in 1927, something “revolutionary” happened in Stuttgart, Germany.
28 February 2026
What does ‘good history’ look like?
4 November 2025
No historian should be able to answer the question on good history without a degree of trepidation, ambivalence, and uncertainty.
4 November 2025
Bangladesh’s eunomia problem
10 January 2025
In the ancient Greek society, eunomia outlined how things should be in an ideal society.
10 January 2025
Shamsul Wares: A teacher who inspired generations of architects
21 June 2024
Aristotle once said, “Those who know, do. Those who understand, teach.” Shamsul Wares understood, and hence taught.
21 June 2024
Faujdarhat Cadet College / A post-Partition heritage campus worth preserving
25 May 2024
FCC should not be viewed simply as one of the cadet colleges; it is a heritage campus that can be showcased to the world.
25 May 2024
The dark side of globalisation
The project of globalisation remains as contested as ever. In Globalization and Its Discontents (2001), Joseph Stiglitz criticised international monetary organisations like the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for advancing ideologically driven, market-based development mantras around the globe, often at the expense of poorer nations.
13 May 2019
The wrong kind of fire
Fire has been essential for human development. Without the domestication of fire, humans couldn't migrate to inhospitable regions of the world.
16 April 2019
Dhaka's urban politics, Haussmann, and related thoughts
After the tragic Chawkbazar inferno in Old Dhaka, I have been thinking about what it would take to bring some urban sanity to a complex megacity like Dhaka.
18 March 2019
A small piece of Armenia in Bangladesh
The Armenian Church of the Holy Resurrection (1781) on Church Road in Old Dhaka highlights a rich tapestry of the Armenian footprint on the commerce, politics, and education of East Bengal.
17 March 2019
The political algorithm of 21st February
Understanding the political setting of the Language Movement and 21st February requires an examination of how religion played very different roles before and after the 1947 Partition in East Bengal.
20 February 2019
Humanising Dhaka with civic spaces
Imagine yourself as an international tourist who just arrived in Dhaka to explore a quintessential city of the Global South. You checked into your hotel somewhere in Banani.
18 February 2019
Understanding Mughal Dhaka
Unlike Mughal Emperor Akbar's planned capital at Fatehpur Sikri in Agra or Shah Jahan's capital in Delhi—both constructed with a unitary concept over a relatively short time span—Mughal-era provincial capitals like Dhaka (or Lahore) grew piecemeal, during an extended period of time.
10 February 2019
The anatomy of a 'viral' picture
Last month while in a car on Mohakhali Road, going toward Gulshan One, I was intrigued by a dramatic footpath display. It was a large
4 February 2019
Streets of the people, by the people, for the people
I had one of my most memorable “urban” experiences in Dhaka on Election Day. I roamed aimlessly around the city. The streets were filled with relaxed pedestrians. It was probably psychological, but the air felt fresh, even a bit aromatic! The usual cacophonous soundtrack of Dhaka streets was absent. There was no menacing truck to overrun me as I walked, no incessant honking to make me neurotic. Rickshaws appeared like the chariots of utopia. I saw carefree birds in city trees, chirping. It was an incredible feeling in the midst of our familiar congested and chaotic Dhaka.
7 January 2019
Election manifestos, climate change and cities
In their election manifestos political parties would appear prudent if they address cities as the frontier for fighting the adverse effects of climate change. In the era of global warming, smart climate-change strategists around the world view the city as both a villain and an opportunity. Because, as much as they contribute to economic growth, cities also produce
24 December 2018
Dhaka's origin myth
It is essential to understand the politics surrounding Dhaka's origin as a city. The prevailing mythology is that Dhaka is 400 years old.
10 December 2018
Is housing for the urban poor a mere dream?
One of the most iconic public housing projects of the 20th-century was built in St Louis, Missouri, in the early 1950s, during a time of post-war optimism and construction boom in America. The Pruitt-Igoe housing project consisted of 33-housing blocks, each 11-storey high, and was arranged across a 57-acre site in the poverty-stricken DeSoto-Carr neighbourhood. Upon completion, the project was seen as an answer to the urgent problem of housing the urban poor.
26 November 2018
The ironic life of African migrants in Paris
In Paris recently I noticed an extraordinary phenomenon unfolding around the Eiffel Tower during a casual afternoon stroll.
5 November 2018
Living Small is Beautiful and Necessary
Last year I relocated to Dhaka and was desperately looking for a place to stay, close to where I would be teaching: BRAC University at Mohakhali. I didn't need a large apartment.
28 October 2018
Why we need new housing philosophies in Bangladesh
The first Monday of October each year is celebrated as World Habitat Day. More than 30 years ago, the United Nations General Assembly conceived the day to build global awareness of a basic but overlooked human right; that is, everybody deserves a decent and affordable place to live.
15 October 2018
A Symbol of Architectural Education in Bangladesh
No building symbolises the advent of professional architectural education in Bangladesh during the 1960s more appropriately than the Department of Architecture building, designed by Richard Edwin Vrooman (1920-2002), at the Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology (BUET).
30 September 2018
A Secret History of 1971
Early this year I went to Washington's vaunted art museum, the National Gallery of Art. I didn't want to miss a much-acclaimed exhibition, Vermeer and the Masters of Genre Painting.
25 September 2018
Living with and on water in Bangladesh
In the past twelve months or so, I have been very fortunate to be able to visit many corners of Bangladesh by road. I wanted to experience what seemed like a Bangladesh in transition, particularly how economic development was changing the country's geography.
10 September 2018
How politics and architecture blended in Dhaka
The American architect Louis Isadore Kahn's Parliament building in Dhaka is considered one of the architectural icons of the twentieth century. Intriguingly, Kahn was not the first choice for the project.
19 August 2018
An architectural gem at the political heartland
We know the 1960s in the then East Pakistan as a decade of political agitation. Bangalis fought for self-rule. Streets were filled with activists demanding political emancipation.
6 August 2018