The Department of Architecture (DoA), BUET completed its first- ever online Design Studio X/XI Thesis/Project Jury on 13, 14, 15 and 17 February 2021. Completion of this Jury has shown DoA’s capacity in adapting to uncertainty and acquiring new technical capacity when the covid-19 pandemic led to nationwide closure of all educational institutions set immense challenges to run the session online. The successful completion of Studio X/XI Online Jury has been an apt end to an extraordinary academic Term, during January 2020 session.

The Studio X/XI Online Jury session was inaugurated by the Honorable Vice-Chancellor of BUET, Prof. Dr. Satya Prasad Majumder on 13 February. In his brief note of appreciation of and encouragement for Architecture, Prof. Majumder urged to pursue online teaching mode to align with the BUET vision during an era of global connectivity. Head, DoA, had given earlier an introduction to the session and Convenor of the Coordinator Committee of Studio X/XI later thanked all involved. Studio X/XI panel tutors, faculty members and students were present in the inaugural session.

DoA’s aspiring graduates presented a total of 57 Projects and 3 Theses covering varied national and international design challenges under 11 Supervisory panels, in two parallel sessions during the four Jury days. Eminent architects, academics, alumni and professionals joined the sessions as Guest Critics; online Jury sessions were enriched by the participation of the overseas critics. All the jury sessions have been streamed Live through the official Facebook page. The live streaming offered a new window of opportunity to disseminate the learnings, critique and discussions among students, personnel of the building industry and concerned communities; based on observed responses, online streaming had indeed marked a new beginning of DoA’s interactive engagement in architectural pedagogy beyond the national boundary. The Jury came to an end on 17 February afternoon with a brief closing session. The Head of the Department, a few tutors of Studio X/XI coordination panels gave their concluding remarks by wishing the graduating students. Student representatives of the graduating Batch 2014 had also shared their online Term and Jury experiences with all.

The successful completion of the final year online Jury has revealed newer opportunities for future academic and co- curricular activities of DoA, BUET despite facing technical, physical limitations and challenges. DoA looks forward to exploring new opportunities for upgrading the quality of its outcome-based education and enhancing the professional skill-sets of its Graduates. The entire DoA family—faculties, staffs and students—has been behind this online session and wishes the graduating students a successful future ahead.

Design Studio X/XI Coordinators: Prof. Dr. Zebun Nasreen Ahmed, Prof. Dr. Farida Nilufar, Prof. Dr. Shayer Ghafur, Prof. Dr. Nasreen Hossain, Patrick D. Rozario, Dr. Apurba Kumar Podder, Dr. Asma Naz, Md. Tariquzzaman, and Nayna Tabassum.