Journal of Architecture

Contents Vol. 18

2021-10-27T10:28:36+00:00

Journal of Architecture (JA) is a peer-reviewed research journal published by the Department of Architecture, Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology, in January and July every year. JA aims to provide a forum for publication of original research and scholarship, for better understanding of the different aspects of and intervention for environment in urban and rural settlements. JA is committed to act as a catalyst to bridge theory, research and practice in the broad field of Architecture of Bangladesh.

Reviewers

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EDITORIAL _ Volume-18, Issue-01_ January 2021

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Journal of Architecture’ is the new version of the former journal, ‘Protibesh,’ of the Department of Architecture (DoA) of Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology (BUET). As mentioned in the previous volume under the current multi-disciplinary Editorial Board, the necessity of reassessing the status of Protibesh has recommended its upgradation to a standard international journal. Following this pathway, the journal has been renamed to draw the attention of the global scholarly platform. However, this issue of the journal included papers at the National level with a specific concentration on the DoA, BUET research papers due to a global crisis. As we all know that the world is currently battling coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) which has been declared as a global pandemic since mid-March 2020. It is undoubtedly arguable that the impacts of this catastrophe on our daily lives are one of the most pungent events in world history. All of us have been affected by the crisis and forced to accommodate all activities online. To maintain pace with the ‘New Normal’ situation the current Editorial Board has initiated an E version of publication of the ‘Journal of Architecture’. From now on all the previous issues of ‘Protibesh’ and future issues of ‘Journal of Architecture’ by the Department of Architecture, BUET will be available online along with the printed versions.

Architecture and allied disciplines are the eventual focus of the ‘Journal of Architecture’. The editorial board has made an effort to involve a large group of scholars and academicians as reviewers. The caliber of the articles reflects their insightful contribution to the journal. The current issue, under the present Editorial Board, has five articles mainly covering the researches on socio-spatial dynamics of resilient homesteads, addressing the issues of climate change resilience from an urban design perspective, evaluating the environmental aspects of vernacular architecture, understanding the performance of urban streets in placemaking and appraising context-sensitive modern architecture in Bangladesh.

The first paper titled ‘Learning from the Vernacular: Exploring the Potentials of Courtyards to Enhance Environmental Delight – A Case of Dhaka’ investigates the daylight and thermal effect of the age-old courtyard strategy of Bengal architecture to ensure a comfortable shelter in a local climate using available materials and known construction technologies developed through several trial-and-error processes. The end results provided influential design guidelines and strategies to attain environmental delight for the future residential housing of Dhaka.

The second paper titled ‘Negotiation of Socio-Spatial Vectors in Addressing Resilience within Households in the Rural and Urban Continuum of Bangladesh’ made an effort to provide an alternative perspective of investigating homesteads, both in the rural and urban continuum grounded in the negotiating vectors of socio-spatial aspects. The investigation has focused on some case studies along with secondary resources to understand how people negotiate with the challenges and the adverse impacts of changing scenario of space and society to address community resilience reflecting ideas of indigenous knowledge and practices.

The third paper published in this issue Titled ‘Sensitivity Towards Context and Climate: An Understanding of Robert G. Boughey’s Architectural Works in Bangladesh’ investigates how the works of architect Robert George Boughey (RGB), the chief architect of Louis Berger Ltd in East Pakistan was well embedded in the context and gradually developed a consistent architectural language, consist of vocabularies developed through intimate scrutiny of the local context. With a mainstream modernist training, how he introduced such architectural vocabulary in the early stage of his career, strikes in mind while visiting his works in Bangladesh. How architect Boughey’s design thoughts responded to this warm humid subtropical climatic context and its unique regional identity in terms of developing the physical attributes in his buildings, remain the main concern of this paper.

The fourth paper titled ‘Integrating Blue-Green-Grey Open Space Network: Sustainable Urban Design Approach for Climate Change Resilience’ attempts to identify the vulnerabilities of possible climate change-induced hazards and identify types and patterns of distribution of open spaces to mitigate the risk and explore their role in making climate change resilient urban areas besides their traditional use. The literature of global scenario also shows that open space networking in an urban area can create a cost-effective climate-change adaptation/resilience approach for urban design. This paper highlights a hybrid approach that integrates the green, blue, and grey open space as an effective, sustainable strategy for climate change adaptation and hazard risk reduction approaches in the urban context.

The last and the fifth paper titled ‘Beyond circulation: forms, quality and performance of urban street’, looks beyond the typical role of conveyance and transport of urban streets that have hosted social, cultural and economic activities historically, in the same way as other public spaces in creating a vibrant urban life. The research suggests that the presence of mixed-use functions, medium length of streets, active building rontage, concave/bulged shape of streets, presence of natural elements, sense of safety, clear visibility, presence of people and landmarks – all add to the positive quality and participation of urban streets. A combination of thorough and closed types with all the above qualities was recommended for newer developments, especially for housing development and design.

I express my greatest appreciation to all the reviewers and technical members who reviewed the articles and advised amendments to the authors. My profound regards to all the members of the Editorial Board and the other Committees related to formatting, printing and publishing for their untold efforts and adaptation with the New-normal situation and to bring this issue of ‘Journal of Architecture’ to light. Amidst of the pandemic situation the process of editing and publication became extremely difficult and hence the current issue has been delayed substantially. We take the responsibility and apologize for any inconvenience towards the authors for the late publication of this volume. We, the present Editorial Board and the Journal of Architecture Committee, take leave from our readers and authors with the hope of further advancement of the journal in the future. Thank You.

Learning from the Vernacular: Exploring the Potentials of Courtyards to Enhance Environmental Delight -A Case of Dhaka

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The present Dhaka, a rapidly growing urban centre of Bangladesh, is experiencing more pressure than ever for housing solutions because of the expeditious urbanization factor. Dhaka is rich in vernacular architecture history resulting from hundreds of years of optimization to provide a comfortable shelter in a local climate using available materials and known construction technologies developed through several trial-and-error processes. This study aimed to investigate the daylight and thermal effect of the age-old courtyard strategy of Bengal architecture. Through an extensive literature study, three vernacular case studies were selected to represent different building styles of Bengal. Each study was comprehensively analysed for the pre-monsoon season, which is generally the hottest time of the year, to observe the efficiency of the courtyard. The research was conducted by adopting a multimethod approach, including different quantitative research strategies supported by a qualitative method. The outcomes of this research were based on experiments conducted through building performance simulations software (IES-VE). The investigation revealed that the courtyard helped the vernacular buildings increase the thermal performance maximum up to 10%. The incorporation of the courtyard resulted in a 3% lesser indoor temperature, confirming an average 20.1% more comfortable temperature in the hot-dry season. The analysis also reviewed that the courtyards support delivering more indoor illumination than the buildings without courtyards. The results of this study provided influential design guidelines and strategies to attain environmental delight that can be implemented for the further development of the future residential housing of Dhaka.

A Negotiation of Socio-Spatial Vectors in UrbanRural Continuum of Homesteads in Bangladesh

2021-10-27T09:19:04+00:00

Households negotiate for diverse purposes within the realm of their domestic spaces and homesteads located in the urban-rural housing continuum. This negotiation depends on the different socio-spatial aspects like livelihood pattern, domestic space organization and use, homestead type, affordability as well as ecological resilience and climatic vulnerabilities in both areas. In today’s global scenario, the market economy and power relations have extended a country’s rural domain into the urban and urban into the global. The impacts of these transformations in the inter-connected spatial domains of the rural and urban continuum are manifested both in the tangible physical and intangible social aspects while challenges are encountered affecting the living and livelihood of people. To encounter some of the ramifications, negotiation between the spatial and social vectors play an important role as a decisive factor regarding the extent of adequate living conditions, residential satisfaction and resilience. Most research efforts, to date, regarding policy and programmes in the housing and settlement sector have been dominated by vectors of the demographic, economic and physical data. The social insights are either almost ignored or even if individually addressed the negotiating aspects are not analyzed to get a resultant vector.

In this paper, an effort has been made to provide an alternative perspective of investigating households and homesteads, both in the rural and urban continuum, grounded in the negotiating vectors of socio-spatial aspects. The investigation has focused on some case studies along with secondary resources to understand how people negotiate with the challenges and the adverse impacts of changing scenarios of space and society to address community resilience reflecting ideas of indigenous knowledge and practices.

Sensitivity Towards Context and Climate: An Understanding of Robert G. Boughey’s Architectural Works in Bangladesh

2021-10-27T09:05:36+00:00

From 1930 to 1950, the years are significant for political turbulence and change, not only in Asia but worldwide, as many countries achieved their political liberty from European subjugation. The partition of India in 1947 resulted in the emergence of a new context with the new socio-political and geographical territory. For the sake of a new identity for the contemporary context, several initiatives were taken to revive the cultural growth, and as a consequence, some new architectural events were observed in both East and West Pakistan that were unseen since colonial subjugation. Due to a very limited number of local architects, several foreign architects were hired in East Pakistan during the mid-fifties to the late sixties under different international agencies to design and conduct local development projects. Foreign architects Louis I. Kahn, Paul Rudolph, C. A. Doxiadis, Richard Neutra, Daniel Dunham, Robert G. Boughey and Stanley Tigerman have significantly contributed to shaping up the architectural landscape of a newly decolonized country. Among them, a young aspirant architect Robert George Boughey (RGB), who was trained in the modernist tradition of the west but deliberately chose to practice in the east, eventually became the chief architect of Louis Berger Group in East Pakistan and was well embedded in the local context. He gradually developed a consistent architectural language, consist of vocabularies developed through intimate scrutiny of the local context and climate. How architect Boughey's design thinking responded to this warm-humid subtropical climatic context and its unique regional identity in terms of developing the physical attributes of his buildings, is the prime search of this paper.

Integrating Blue-Green-Grey Open Space Network: Sustainable Urban Design Approach for Climate Change Resilience

2021-10-27T09:12:53+00:00

To reduce the vulnerable impacts of climate change, it is now important to identify a climate-change adaptation or resilience strategy that would reduce the hazard risk in urban areas from possible climate change-induced flooding, temperature rise, sea-level rise, landslides, and earthquakes. In an urban area, open spaces can build the risk management capacity of urban areas. Based on their multi-functional capability, different types of open spaces are used for different functions, including spaces for recreation and relaxation, agriculture and gardening, ventilation and cooling, water absorption and groundwater recharge, and stationary or traffic and transportation for the public. It has been observed that traditionally, a network of Green-Blue-Grey (GBG) spaces provided the necessary safety net to hazards. GBG is ecosystem-based hybrid approaches that take advantage of ecosystem functions and the efficacy of more engineered systems to deliver the adaptive measure of urban design. Through case studies and literature review, this paper attempts to identify the vulnerabilities of possible climate change-induced hazards and identify types and patterns of distribution of open spaces to mitigate the risk and explore their role in making climate change resilient urban areas besides their traditional use. The literature of global scenario also shows that open space networking in an urban area can create a cost-effective climate-change adaptation/resilience approach for urban design. This paper highlights a hybrid approach that integrates the green, blue, and grey open space as an effective, sustainable strategy for climate change adaptation and hazard risk reduction approaches in the urban context.

Beyond Circulation: Forms, Quality and Performance of Urban Streets

2021-10-27T08:50:44+00:00

Beyond their typical role of conveyance and transport, urban streets have served a host of social, cultural and economic functions historically, in the same way as other public spaces in creating a vibrant urban life. These functions are influenced by spatial forms/configurations of different street types. In the general absence of similar studies from our local context, this paper aimed to identify different physical, social and psychological attributes of urban streets that engender street vibrancy. Two types of neighbourhood-level streets, namely 'through/open-ended' and 'closed' types were studied, which are part of a well-known urban street/neighbourhood system in Khulna, Bangladesh. A number of socio-cultural, psychological and physical attributes of streets were also studied, and a comparative qualitative analysis between different street types was conducted. Findings suggest that the presence of mixed-use functions, medium length of streets, active building frontage, concave/bulged shape of streets, presence of natural elements, sense of safety, clear visibility, presence of people and landmarks — all add to the positive quality and participation of urban streets. A combination of through and closed types with all the above qualities was recommended for newer developments, especially for housing development and design.