Anbis Sutrapur

Future of the Past

Old Dhaka has been mercilessly transforming into an uninhabitable place with increased population, lack
of proper building construction and vision. Plots are increasingly dividing into smaller units as traditional
cluster families and breaking down into nucleus families. The wonderful, historical old Dhaka is getting
crammed and disarrayed, fast losing its cultural ambiance, traditional morphology and human quality.

Traditionally there were four places that were sociologically significant. A library for knowledge, a
gymnasium for physical fitness, a grocery store for daily needs and a tea stall for brain storming in
deed. Unfortunately with the passage of time these disappeared. The society, particularly the young
generations have almost lost their sharing and focus of social activity. This gradually led our society a
lack of good mental and physical health and in the end the humanity.

This 6107 sqft five storied commercial project is on a 1506 sqft land area. The project idea is to face the
challenge of the future inspired by the past, making this small building a place for enlightenment and
abundant desire for the community.

On the street level apart from the car park and service core, only 14’ by 12’ area was left which has been
sunken 10’ below the ground level to make it double height space, part of the 810 sqft library area.
Here, absence of floor on the ground level adjacent to the main Sutrapur road creates a sense of sudden
tranquility in the dense old Dhaka.

While the first and second floor is kept for grocery and gymnasium, the third and fourth floor is a
traditional tea stall transformed. The abrupt dense green patch on the opposite of the plot across
the road is a rare view. The arrangement of the water body collected from the rain water through a
traditional collecting horn, top hang glass window (inspired by traditional “Japi”), the setting of the
furniture and traditional foods along with the use of floor, ceiling material, mix of concrete with steel
structure, use of solar panels adds to the large old building photograph on the interior wall making the
building a “future of the past”.

*The phrase “Future of the past” is by professor Dr. Mahabub Rahman developed for a seminar in Dhaka. He is an architect teaching at North
South University, Dhaka.