For a long time, Nasir Ali Mamun, who slowly catapulted portrait photography in Bangladesh, photographed S. M. Sultan, one of the finest artistic minds from this soil.     To honor the centennial of the legendary S. M. Sultan (1924-1994), the Bengal Foundation, in collaboration with HSBC Bangladesh, presents “Shotoborshe Sultan,” a unique photographic exhibition by Nasir Ali Mamun. The exhibition began on Friday, August 22, 2025, at 6:00 PM, in the Quamrul Hassan show hall, Bengal Shilpalay, Dhaka, and would run every day (excluding Sundays) from 4:00 to 8:00 PM till September 27, 2025. The show features rare images of S. M. Sultan by Mamun, as well as original negatives, handwritten letters, and souvenirs, many of which are being displayed for the first time in public, presenting an intimate visual journey from Sultan’s rural home in Narail until his latter years.     Portraits of artists are merely portraits of individuals; they are also historical landscapes. What Mamun began decades ago as a photographic testament to a single person is now unfolding as part of a centennial constellation in which Sultan’s photographs, letters, and pieces of existence are made visible again. Sultan’s paintings are counter-historical. He gave peasants colossal stature, men and women with torsos whose muscles bore the silt of millennia. In his works, the agrarian body is not a scenic or colonial decoration, but rather the reality of subsistence. It is a subaltern vision turned myth: peasants are the measure of Bangladesh itself. Seeing them on his painting reminds us that history belongs not only to the financially privileged class but also to people who tilled, carried, and endured. But what does it mean to shoot the man who immortalized others and created counter-histories? The answer, I believe, is to reintegrate him into the life-world he exalted. This is exactly what Mamun did. His black-and-white photographs of Sultan do not elevate him to the artist’s abstract figure status. They instill in him the texture of daily austerity.     Beyond the artist at work, the studio, and the brush, there are subtleties that encompass Sultan sitting on a mat in a broken zamindar’s house (where he lived), painting in the light that spills in through an open door, eating with cats as companions, bent under the weak flame of a hurricane lamp, the shadow of a child at the door, the cat staring as he eats, and the cracked floor that bears his weight. These elements make it impossible for Sultan to be just classified as an eccentric artist. Thus, Mamun’s photographs of Sultan are not just photographic intrusions into his private life. They reject glamor. They reject transforming Sultan into a star divorced from the reality he lived in. Instead, they depict him in frail light, in humble space, and in the rhythms of daily life, and much would have been lost if these images had not existed. Without Mamun, Sultan would only exist as a myth, with his huge peasants in museums and his name perpetuated in art history. But the eccentric man himself would vanish into rumor. These pictures resist the erasing. They claim the artist was here. Written by Shahbaz Nahian

Enamul Karim and Sharif Uddin Ahammed Redefine Regional Architecture In a week that celebrated architectural ingenuity across Asia, two Bangladeshi architects—Enamul Karim and Sharif Uddin Ahammed—stood out among more than 300 submissions at the ARCASIA Awards for Architecture 2025, held in Incheon from September 7 to 14.   Their winning projects, though vastly different in scale and typology, share a common ethos: architecture as a medium of emotional depth and social responsibility. Karim was awarded the Gold in Category A1 for CHAABI, a single-family residence that transforms domestic space into a poetic landscape of memory and light. Ahammed, meanwhile, received the Special Award for Socially Responsible Architecture for From Industrial Wasteland to Ecological Oasis Bangladesh, a low-budget landscape intervention that reclaims degraded land for biodiversity and community equity. Their recognition marks a significant moment for Bangladeshi architecture, where personal narrative and civic consciousness are increasingly shaping the built environment.   A House That Remembers: Enamul Karim’s CHAABI Located in Berabo, Rupganj, near the river Shitalakha, CHAABI is more than a residence—it is a spatial memoir. Completed in 2023, the 1,035-square-metre home was designed for a family seeking peace, introspection, and connection to nature. Karim’s design orchestrates a series of transitions: from enclosed rooms to open courtyards, from filtered daylight to open skies, from private memory to shared experience.     The house features a water body that runs alongside the living room, open to the south wind and sky. A narrow walkway along its edge leads to a large open field, evoking a sense of spatial release. Inside, the programme includes bedrooms, a home theatre, gymnasium, swimming pool, and a unique “address-desk”—a raised wooden platform with microphones for family speeches. Material choices are deliberate: exposed concrete for structure, mahogany for doors and windows, matte tiles for floors, and grill-less glass for uninterrupted light. Memory traps embedded in the ground hold family memorabilia, turning the home into a quiet archive of generational love. Karim’s CHAABI was praised by the jury—led by ARCASIA President Ar. Saifuddin Ahmad—for its emotional clarity and architectural restraint, a rare balance in residential design.   A Landscape of Equity: Sharif Uddin Ahammed’s Ecological Oasis In contrast to the intimacy of CHAABI, Sharif Uddin Ahammed’s award-winning project operates at the scale of landscape and labour. From Industrial Wasteland to Ecological Oasis Bangladesh reclaims a neglected site through passive hydrological solutions, wildlife habitat creation, and democratic spatial planning.   Developed between 2022 and 2023, the project challenges conventional landscape design by addressing class divisions between corporate officials and labourers. Using existing materials and a minimal budget, Ahammed and his team at Sthapotik crafted a space that serves both ecological and human needs. The jury, which also included Prof. Ken Nah, Ar. Shahid Abdulla, Ar. Anna Kwong, and Ar. Beverly Frank, recognised the project’s layered complexity and its commitment to environmental justice. Convened by Ar. Chun Gyu Shin, the panel awarded Ahammed the Special Award for Socially Responsible Architecture on 10 September. For Ahammed, the recognition affirms a long-held belief: that architecture must respond to its environment—not just physically, but socially and emotionally. His practice, rooted in the philosophy of “responsive environments,” continues to challenge the boundaries of what architecture can do.   A Shared Stage, Divergent Legacies Though Karim and Ahammed work in different registers—one in the quiet intimacy of home, the other in the public urgency of landscape—their projects converge in their refusal to treat architecture as mere form. Instead, they offer it as a language of care, memory, and justice. Their dual recognition at ARCASIA 2025 is not just a win for Bangladesh—it is a signal that architecture in the region is evolving, embracing both the personal and the political, the poetic and the pragmatic. Written by Afroza Mamataz

Dhara aims to create a platform where alumni, students, and practising architects can share knowledge   The Department of Architecture at Ahsanullah University of Science and Technology (AUST) launched its new bi-monthly talk series, Dhara, organised in collaboration with the Alumni of AUST Architects, on August 26 this year.     The inaugural session, held at the Jury and Exhibition Space of the department, began with a lecture by Swiss architect Niklaus Graber. Dhara aims to create a platform where alumni, students, and practising architects can share knowledge, ideas, and experiences. By opening up discussions on contemporary architectural practice, the series seeks to broaden perspectives, foster collaboration, and strengthen the link between academia and the profession. As its tagline suggests, Dhara is envisioned as a place “where ideas flow, and architecture speaks”. Niklaus Graber delivered the opening lecture under the title “Enabling Structures: Reflections between Rivers and Mountains”. Drawing on his practice in Switzerland and his long-standing engagement with Bangladesh, Graber spoke about the relationship between architecture and structure, and how this connection shapes meaningful spaces.     He reflected on the contrasts between the landscapes of Bangladesh and Switzerland, while also noting their similarities: in both countries, distinctive geographical conditions have influenced settlement patterns and fostered a shared awareness of caring for scarce resources. For Graber, sustainable and inclusive architecture is most successful when rooted in “enabling structures” that form welcoming environments and encourage vibrant social interaction.   Niklaus Graber studied architecture at ETH Zurich and at the Graduate School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation (GSAPP), Columbia University, New York. The event at AUST began with a welcome address by Architect Shafiul Azam Shamim, General Secretary of the Alumni of AUST Architects. AUST Vice-Chancellor, Professor Dr Md Ashraful Hoque, attended the occasion, along with faculty members, alumni, and students. Following Graber’s engaging presentation, the vice-chancellor expressed his gratitude and presented him with a crest. Reflecting on the event, Asif Salman, an architectural designer and photographer, explained: “This workshop will be held every two months to generate in-depth ideas and get students more involved, as Niklaus Graber suggested that architecture needs to be less romanticised and more focused on safety and security.” He also stressed that the way architecture is perceived must evolve: “Sustainability must be the focus. Architecture has changed from the 20th century to the 21st century, and it will keep changing. The focus of this workshop is to bring new spokespersons, bring architects together, and start a discourse.” With such a vision, Dhara aspires to continue as a living platform where architectural ideas flow freely and dialogue between generations of architects enriches new visions.