Protecting water bodies, ecology must in development process

Bangladesh cannot afford destroying its waterfronts and ecology in the development process, said globally acclaimed architects on the sideline of a three-day international architecture symposium in the capital yesterday.

There has to be a process led by conservationists, before architecture comes in, for the conservation of some irreplaceable natural resources like rivers, wetlands and water bodies, said Peter Stutchbury, principal architect of Peter Stutchbury Architecture in Sydney, Australia, while talking to The Daily Star.

"We are missing a stage of analysis…developers buy cheap but sensitive lands and build on it because they want money," he said.

"Bangladesh is the biggest delta in the world, a most remarkable place, yet you are killing it…I would hope in Bangladesh there is some definitive effort to save the nature," he added.

"Nature is everything and it is most important to respect the patterns of nature," he emphasised, adding, rivers connect people to a greater natural world; it forms a spiritual union between humans and beyond human realm.

"Water is everywhere in the Bangladeshi landscape," said Prof Adele Santos, former dean of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Boston in the US, adding, "Water is cultivation; water is fishing and a beautiful thing to look at."

"Water has a strong value. It is not an evil and should be a friend in development process. To fill up the water bodies and harm the ecological system is not a responsible act," she said.   

Architects think in a lateral way to bring wellbeing and are responsible for emotional and spiritual welfare of the people and society, not like a doctor, who brings physical wellbeing, said Peter. People, if exposed to beauty are often inspired, he said.While talking on architectural education, noted architect Prof Shamsul Wares, said that an architect should take a position against commercialism, consumerism and the culture of greed.

Prof Timmy Aziz from Maryland Institute College of Art in Baltimore, US, said that architects have to be innovative and imaginative and resist being constrained by mere material demands of the employers.

Architect Nikalus Graber from Switzerland, while moderating the panel discussion on education, said that in general 80 percent built environment has nothing to do with architecture, they are mere production.

The Bengal Institute for Architecture along with Bengal Foundation organised the symposium on "Architecture Now/Next" at Krishibid Institution Bangladesh, which aims at understanding new directions in architecture and city building. The invited speakers include globally acclaimed professionals, academicians, writers, critics and thinkers in the field of architecture also from the UK, the USA, Mexico, Turkey, South Korea, and Vietnam.

Kazi Khaleed Ashraf, director general of Bengal Institute conducted the day's session. The symposium comes to an end today.