AMER ABDAL HABIB

Architecture

The Role of An Architect

The practice of architecture in Bangladesh has gone through several stages of growth. There are many examples of great architecture, such as those of Muzharul Islam, Louis Kahn, and Bashirul Haq, but they are too few and far between. As a young nation, for many years we have been in what I term as “survival mode.” Engineer-like efficiency dictated our construction, which resulted in drab, lifeless colony quarters. But as our purchasing power increases so too does the desire for quality spaces become more of an option. The age of simply surviving is over.   Aesthetics can be costly at times. The challenge is in knowing the appropriate amount, the justifications of where and when. To be economical and cost effective is paramount. It is a privilege to be an architect. The ability to visualize something better is engrained in us, but in a developing nation, it can also be

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Live Curious

  If you are you breathe. If you breathe you talk. If you talk you ask. If you ask you think. If you think you search. If you search you experience. If you experience you learn. If you learn you grow. If you grow you wish. If you wish you find. And if you find you doubt. If you doubt you question. If you question you understand and if you understand you know. If you know you want to know more. If you want to know more you are alive.

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Blog

The Inheritance of Faith

  Religion is something which dictates much of our lives. The values instilled in us from childhood carry on throughout our existence, and it even attempts to postulate what comes later, after death. What happens to us after we die is a question which has haunted many. It’s likely to be the most important question of all — one we’re unlikely to find an answer to (until it’s too late). Somehow, our religion, something so fickle and random, determines our level of comfort in the afterlife; where we go and the climate we’ll experience. What bothers me most about this is not only does God have favorites but he predetermines and files (most of us) away before we’re alive. As far as I can tell, most of us are born into our religions. We follow our fathers, as they followed theirs before them. But every so often, a shift and

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Architecture

Studio Mumbai Architects

I came to the Studio on the 16th of February in hopes of starting a new chapter. After a somewhat adventurous journey from Dhaka to Alibag, this is the first thing I saw as I entered the SMA compound. My first thought was, “Wow, I get to work here?” The next thing I saw was a massive workspace and library. It’s been about 2 weeks since I got here, and a lot has happened and I’ve seen several interesting things which I wanted to remember. These entries will initially be a little random and not in any chronological order, but I think my biographer will be able to figure it out. The Studio itself is a brilliantly rustic and simple series of sheds in a lush green compound filled with trees. Our main central workspace is open to the sky, shaded by a betel nut and coconut grove. On three

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