ArchSociety News received a press release yesterday from IAB (signed by Mamnoon Morshed Choudhury) about an interesting design competition. Its about designing the Entry Gate and the Torch of 11th South Asian Games. We are quoting the copy of the letter as it was sent:
"The 11th South Asian Games is going to be held on 29 January 2010 and the Organizing Committee of the Games has approached IAB on 24.10.09 to very quickly organize an Open Competition for Design of the Entry Gate and Torch at the Bangabandhu National Stadium, Dhaka.
The Entry Gate and Torch of an international sports event is always a significant symbol of the event. The Torch will be the main focus of the inaugural and closing ceremonies. Therefore, a design that symbolizes the spirit of the South Asian Games and the host country Bangladesh, will be a very prestigious one.
As you can understand, the timeline is very short and the competition has to be organized within the time constraints. After selection of the design, contractor appointment and construction work has to commence within shortest possible time. We have been informed that all construction works at the Bangabandhu National Stadium needs to completed by 15.01.10. As such, the design should consider factors like time and ease of construction etc.
With the time constrains in consideration, IAB and the Organizing Committee of 11th SA Games, have prepared the outline of the Open design Competition. The salient features of which is presented below-
Participants Eligibility : Members and Candidate Members of IAB.
Number of Entries from Each Participant : Not limited
Briefing Session on site: on Tuesday, 27.10.09 at 5.30pm.
Competition Brief to be handed out to intending participants during the Briefing Session.
Competition Brief will also be e-mailed to intending participants from IAB upon request.
No prior registration is required.
Submission Requirements [in brief] : Architectural Drawings, 3D and a Model.
Prize Money :
1st Prize : Tk .2,50,000.00
2nd Prize : Tk. 1,50,000.00
3rd Prize : Tk. 1,00,000.00
The entry awarded 1st Prize shall be selected for implementation.
The award money to be paid as 1st Prize shall form one part of the design fee. The second part of the fee will be an amount of Tk.2,00,000 which will paid as Supervision Fee.
Date & Place of Submission : Within 9pm, Tuesday,10.11.09 at the office of Secretary, Bangladesh Olympic Association, Jatiyo Krira Porishod building, Bangabandhu National Stadium, Dhaka.
Jury Panel :
Ar. Prof. Shamsul Wares
Ar. Saif Ul Huq
Ar. Md. Ehsan Khan
Mr. Bashir Ahmed, Ex Secretary General, Bangladesh Olympic Association
Maj. Gen. Hamid Al Hasan, E.In.C, Bangladesh Armed Forces
Your enthusiastic participation will make the competition a success."
Tuesday 27 October 2009
Design the Entry Gate and the Torch for 11th South Asian Games
on Tuesday 27 October 2009 - 05:49:58 | by NEOMonday 19 October 2009
Rethinking the place we live: Re:Vision Design Awards 2010
on Monday 19 October 2009 - 18:03:31 | by NEO
Its a call of keeping questioning. A competition of questioning and making more efficient, sustainable, enjoyable and beautiful the place we live in.
Modern Painters magazine and Louise Blouin Media inaugurates the Re:Vision Design Awards for emerging designers whether from the field of furniture, lighting, product, interior or environmental design that thoughtfully explore new ways to live, play and interact in the domestic environment.
Eligibility: The competition is open to all (younger than 40 and working less than 10 years) from any country, students can participate.
Prizes: 1st: 10,000 USD, two runner ups: 2,500 each, and all the winning and finalist designs will be published in the Modern Painters magazine.
Deadline: 17th November, 2009
For Details: CLICK HERE
Modern Painters magazine and Louise Blouin Media inaugurates the Re:Vision Design Awards for emerging designers whether from the field of furniture, lighting, product, interior or environmental design that thoughtfully explore new ways to live, play and interact in the domestic environment.
Eligibility: The competition is open to all (younger than 40 and working less than 10 years) from any country, students can participate.
Prizes: 1st: 10,000 USD, two runner ups: 2,500 each, and all the winning and finalist designs will be published in the Modern Painters magazine.
Deadline: 17th November, 2009
For Details: CLICK HERE
Saturday 17 October 2009
A Solo Painting Exhibition by Architect Mustapha Khalid Palash “of Conflict and Harmony”
on Saturday 17 October 2009 - 06:39:25 | by adminOften it is said that painting helps to overcome the ambiguity of architectural design's thought process. Painting helps to practice and realize the transformation of feelings in abstract visualizations. May be thats why traditionally we see architects as artists and vice versa, like Michelangelo and Bernini as architects and Le Corbusier as a painter.
Architect Mustapha Khalid Palash is one of the most celebrated names in Bangladeshi architecture. His partnership practice (along with Architect Foyez Ullah) ‘Vistaara Architects’ sets milestone examples of making international standard modern buildings and the list includes UTC Building, Basundhara City, Westin Dhaka, Peoples Insurance Building, Banglalink Head Office, Grameenphone Corporate head office and more.
Beyond his architectural practice Mustapha Khalid Palash also paints, writes, plays and he is a conscious activist in sociopolitical issues. His first painting exhibition was inaugurated by famous painter Kamrul Hasan in 1978 when he (Palash) was 16.
And now ‘Of Conflict and Harmony’ is his second solo exhibition going to be started from October 23rd at the Gallery of Fine Arts Asiatic Society of Bangladesh. We hope this exhibition will help to put a light on the contemporary complexity and ambiguity of future of architecture.
Inaugural Program
Welcome address by Prof. Hamiduzzaman Khan, address by Chief Guest Mr. Abul Kalam Azad, Honorable Minister of Information and Culture, Govt. of Peoples Republic of Bangladesh.
Special Guest Architect Mubasshar Hussain, Chairman, Architects Regional Council Asia [ARCASIA] and President, Institute of Architects Bangladesh [IAB]
Prof. Nazrul Islam, Chairman, UGC
Architect Prof. Shamsul Wares
Architect Mustapha Khalid Palash
Launching of the book “of Conflict and Harmony”, Inauguration of the exhibition, Refreshment
Time and Date: 04:30 PM, Friday, 23 October, 2009
Venue: Gallery of Fine Arts Asiatic Society of Bangladesh 5, Old Secretariat Road, Nimtoli Ramna, Dhaka-1000 Exhibition shall remain open till 22 November, 2009 Everyday from 11:00 AM to 08:00 PM
Here are some quick-picks from the exhibition:
Circular Passion
City Mirror 2
Collision 2
Architect Professor Shamsul Wares gave an insightful writing about Mustapha Khalid Palash's exhibition. Here is what he said:
"poetic construction of the abstract
Painter Mustapha Khalid Palash is a modernist by instinct. He is inclined towards abandoning the realm of appearances in pursuit of absolute pure form. It implies not only for his paintings but for his architecture as well as graphic design. For him abstraction is not simply self-referential rather it represents a powerful way of perceiving and ultimately transforming the world. He believes that art does not lose any of its expressive power of meaning when divorced from the tangible world. In fact through the formal expression of pure sensation he hopes to discover a universal visual language able to transcend mundane experience and place the viewer in touch with ultimately the spiritual world.
Many terms have been employed to describe and identify this kind of non imitative works of art produced throughout 20th century, including abstract, nonobjective and non presentational. All these terms refer to an art that depends solely on colour, line and shape for its imagery rather than motifs drawn from observable reality. Early exponents of pure abstraction were Kupka, Maveirch, Kindensky, Arp, Delaunay and Mondrian among others.
In the series of paintings created by Palash called “of Conflict and Harmony” pure colour, fractured by light, virtually eliminates any recognizable vestiges of the observed world. He abandoned even the pretence of subject creating an abstract world of vibrating colour forms with pure musical sensation. In these paintings [oil and acrylic] the colour composition varies from monochrome to contrast creating dynamic interaction of brilliant colour harmonies. In these pure abstract paintings composition is the fullest expression of his art. Rationally ordered structure suggests that harmony supersedes the apparently chaotic upheavals of the surface of the painting. In some of these paintings colouristic aspects merge with the architectonic approach of his painting. In his work, at all circumstances he performs with great aplomb.
In the series of paintings called “Circular Passion”, the painted circles, partially transparent float serenely across one another above the background like planets approaching and orbiting through space. Circle as a connection with the cosmic, points quiet clearly to the fourth dimension. The emission of light from the circular forms provides allusion of the mystic affirming a kind of spiritual basis of his art.
Pure abstract painting is the result of the articulation of the constructed colour, space and structure on the canvas. This art creates an arena of space and forms totally ignoring social values or meaning. Abstract or non objective painting purifies itself by rejecting description, story or illustration so that the viewer can experience pure aesthetic pleasure like that of instrumental music. In 1910 Kindensky was the first to create pure abstract painting. Later many painters contributed to strengthen abstraction. From 1980’s painters began to lose interest in pure abstraction. Colour, space and form was not sufficient without a commitment towards the society. They began to feel compulsion to borrow elements from linguistics [semiotics, semantics, syntax, metaphor, etc] in order to provide meaning to the abstract art. These artists are a section of the post-modernists. They use a kind of sign language by using arrow head, symbol, geometric design, mathematical sign, dot patch, obscure images of human, birds, houses, furniture, etc. and place them along form and colour to create poetic abstract art. Palash has endevoured to work with such influences and produced works to abstract from his perception of things seen in order to realize painting, atmospheric distillation of the urban cityscape of Dhaka [Myths of Dhaka] or the country landscape [forest, Kash Forest, Sundarbans, etc]. From the outset he learned to translate sensuous, visual experiance into broad fields of colour structured in relation to the flatness of the picture plane. A cool formalist and colourist and in the context of his art he eschewed almost personal association of his experience in favour of meanings more generally evocative of the interaction between inner and outer world.
Finally contrast of freedom and control in his work seems to evolve from his personal struggle to mitigate between intuitive expression and calculated abstracted form. He needs now to continue and gradually evolve and devote more towards drawing and painting to achieve greater insight."
Samsul Wares
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Submitted by: Rubel Raf
Editing: Mohammad Tauheed