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Source: Kashef Chowdhury/URBANA
This article examines the Friendship centre in Bangladesh and analyses its historical references to sites in Mahasthangarh while also noting how it adapts to the unique geographical and environmental context of Gaibandha, Bangladesh.
The Friendship Centre is a community project built by URBANA. URBANA is a Bangladesh based architectural practice led by Architect Kashef Chowdhury.
This project is intended to serve the needs and well-being of a specific community. It also helps shape the social and cultural landscape of the community and addresses the social, geographical, and environmental challenges.
The main reason for choosing this centre as the focus of this article was the way it responds to the geographical and budgetary constraints and also how it draws inspiration from historical constructions to result in a building that is both functional and responds to its heritage.
While the soil supports agriculture, this region is highly prone to disasters like flooding during the monsoon, erosion, draughts, and even earthquakes. Even with these risks, people choose to live in this region because of the fertility of the soil and rely on agriculture as their only source of livelihood. The Friendship NGO works with these locals to provide them with good healthcare facilities. The Friendship Centre located in the Gaibandha district of Bangladesh is a centre built to train the staff of the Friendship NGO that works with people from the neighbouring areas. The centre serves multiple purposes, it is used to provide training to the local rural people and is also rented out for various events.
Source: Google Earth
The friendship centre is located in Gaibandha district which is one of the settlements situated in the northern part of Bangladesh. It lies in the floodplains of greater Bangladesh and is characterised by the interplay of three major rivers- Brahmaputra, Jamuna, and Teesta. The landforms in this region are largely influenced by the flow of the rivers and seismic activities. The uplift caused by tectonic activities has complicated the region's topography, making it highly susceptible to disasters like floods, erosion, draughts, and even earthquakes. The soil erosion in this region made it essential for the architect to account for potential methods to prevent it. The risk of flooding and the low soil bearing capacity, also largely affected the way of construction of the centre. Given these conditions, the design and construction of this centre required different design strategies. The architect, however, took inspiration from the historical construction of Mahasthangahr to mitigate these difficulties.
Source: Kashef Chowdhury
Source: Wikipedia
Mahasthangahr is the oldest archaeological site in Bangladesh, dating back to the 3rd century BC. It contains the ruins of the city of Pundranagar which used to be known for its mud and brick constructions
Navigating through the difficulties
Some of the buildings in Pundranagar were built on the level of the road to protect it from floods that happen in the region. Taking inspiration from this, the Friendship Centre is built on low-lying land, at the level of the road, and is surrounded by an embankment to protect it from flooding.
Source: Sketch by Kashef Chowdhury/URBANA
Source: Author
The Govinda Temple, another historical structure from Mahasthangarh, features an emphasis on courtyards, another design principle that has been adopted in the Friendship Centre. This historical influence is evident in the way courtyards are integrated into the Centre’s design to foster natural light and ventilation.
Both the buildings represent the cultural context of their respective time periods. The design evolution from Pundranagr constructions to that of the friendship centre shows how architecture adapts to contemporary needs.
Its design is a combination of public and private sectors that are organized into two blocks, the Ka block and the Kha block. The Ka block is used for daily activities and training and consists of public spaces whereas the Kha block is designed to accommodate trainees, staff, and visitors. The public and private sectors are divided by a series of arches that open up into a courtyard.
The main entry to the centre is given by staircases on two opposite ends of the structure. One of the key features of the design are the cubic volumes consisting of ponds, pavilions, and courtyards that are connected by a series of walkaways. This creates space that flows, increasing ventilation and natural light. Since it is an earthquake-prone zone, all the pavilions are designed to have clear exits into the courtyards. These courtyards and walkaways help facilitate movement in times of emergencies.
Source: Sketch by Kashef Chowdhury/URBANA
Another notable feature of the design is the vegetated roofs that not only help the design blend into the landscape and make it less intrusive, but also contribute to the sustainability of the structure and help in heat absorption during the summers.
The selection of materials used for construction was a cautious process also driven by cultural and contextual considerations. The cultural influence is visible in the use of local handmade bricks that help the centre blend into the existing landscape. The nearby architectural landscape mostly consists of temporary structures built using mud and thatch, and some permanent structures built with locally available bricks. Local artisans played an important role in the making of these bricks. While concrete and steel were used for the foundation, their use was kept minimal to reduce the overall cost and emphasise the use of local materials. The project was a community effort, where workers from the nearby areas helped in the process of construction. It was carried out with a limited budget. By sourcing materials locally and employing workers living in that region, the project was able to significantly reduce the cost of construction.
In conclusion, the Friendship centre stands as an example of how architecture can work along with the landscape while also respecting historical context and meeting practical needs. The development in form from the Mahasthangarh ruins to the Friendship centre ensures that the design bridges the gap between history and contemporaneity.
References
Frampton, Kenneth. 2016. Friendship Centre. N.p.: Park Books. Accessed August 10, 2024.
“Kashef Chowdhury/Urbana.” n.d. Kashef Chowdhury/Urbana. Accessed August 11, 2024. https://kashefchowdhury-urbana.com/projects/friendship-centre-2008-1.
“Mahasthan.” 2021. Banglapedia. https://en.banglapedia.org/index.php/Mahasthan. Accessed August 11, 2024.
Mehrotra, Nondita C., Kashef M. Chowdhury, and Abdul Basith. n.d. “Friendship Center | PDF | Brick | Flood.” Scribd. Accessed August 11, 2024. https://www.scribd.com/document/400383103/friendship-center.
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