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Catalytic architecture for urban transformation
Dormitory at MIT, Boston by S.Holl
BerlinBuilding as a catalytic event has often been an occasion to give new cultural and economic impetus to a city. What was once a depreciating and dreary urban environment has often been turned around at the physical, psychological and economical level by the creation of a new and inspiring works of architecture. A stunningly successful example from recent times is the new museum in the Spanish town of Bilbao designed by the renowned American architect Frank Gehry. Bilbao turned from a dismal industrial town to become a world focus sending people to that town in droves. Newspapers have dubbed this the Bilbao Effect (also not forgetting its hype). Officials of many places have called upon Gehry to come to their town like the pied piper and conduct a similar catalysis. Such is the power of good architecture, a single building that can change the life of a city.
There are other examples. Like the inspiring architectural showmanship in Berlin where the best architects of Europe were invited to build exhibitionary buildings, or the Pompidou Centre in Paris that converted an anonymous area into an urban mecca, or
- More exhibitionary buildings.
- Architecture that transforms an urban environment.
- Critical architecture for some critical areas.
- Get Gehry!!
the Asian Games Village in New Delhi that provided a new model of urban housing.
The purpose and effect of architecture are manifold, some are immediate such as the function it is built for, and some are far-extending such as the emotional impact it might have on a larger populace. Even as a single building, architecture is not an isolated phenomenon. It affects its surroundings and continues to having an impact for a long time. The power of catalytic architecture must be identified as also when and where it is needed. To recognize and initiate that also needs daring and vision. When there is an opportunity to do that, anything else that is piece-meal or willy-nilly is nothing short of being immoral.
If the Assembly Complex at Sher-e- Bangla Nagar was a spark produced in the 1960s by Louis Kahn, Dhaka needs few such impetuses. There are some critical areas in the city that needs to be addressed in the most creative way before they are vandalised by illegal invasions or even officially by poor planning. Such areas should be developed in an exemplary way to inspire and edify people, as well as open them up for new experiences. The old airport area is waiting patiently to be used as a new talisman for the city (until that happens one cannot understand why that area cannot be enjoyed as a park for now). The central jail could be relocated at a new location and the area opened up for new cultural, recreational and selective residential uses for the people of old Dhaka. If nothing else, the area can become a lung-like “Central Park” for that part of the city. The BDR area at Peelkhana could similarly be renovated. Areas along the flood protection banks on both sides of it require imaginative thinking for housing and community buildings but those that work with the fluctuations of water. These and other such areas could go towards a dynamic transformation of the city.
We should take one of these areas, say the old airport, and do something bold and inspiring: invite ten top architects of the world to provide their visions for Dhaka on that site, and perhaps implement one of the ideas. Even if the process costs a bit, it is nothing compared to what priceless gift it will bear for the future of the city. Dhaka, get Gehry!
