Office: Kashef Chowdhury - URBANA | ArchDaily

ULAB New Campus / Kashef Chowdhury - URBANA

Hana Abdel — Tue, 07 Jun 2022 07:00:00 +0000

Beyond Hermetics - The recently completed new campus building for the University of Liberal Arts Bangladesh (ULAB) in Dhaka is designed by Kashef Chowdhury and his Dhaka-based studio URBANA. Chowdhury is responsible for a number of climate-sensitive buildings in the deltaic landscape of Bangladesh and had already attracted international attention among others with the award-winning Friendship Centre in Gaibandha (Aga Khan Award 2016) and the Friendship Hospital in Sathkhira (RIBA International Prize 2021).

Red Mosque / Kashef Chowdhury - URBANA

Hana Abdel — Sun, 18 Apr 2021 23:00:00 +0000

Inspired by the simplicity of the first mosque in Islam, the mosque in Madina, the Red Mosque takes on a true pavilion form. An array of large six metre tall ‘windows’ let in a welcome breeze, obviating the need for air-conditioning in a climate where summers can get very hot. A shallow body of water encircles the pavilion, separating it from the adjacent garden and plaza while engaging micro-climatic cooling.

Friendship Hospital Satkhira / Kashef Chowdhury/URBANA

Daniel Tapia — Thu, 07 Jan 2021 06:00:00 +0000

The hospital is situated in a predominantly rural area that had been heavily affected by a major cyclone just a few years ago. In this natural, nature-ravaged landscape, thinly marked with low-rise structures and thatched houses, a local philanthropist donated land for Friendship to build an eighty-bed hospital.

Ukhia Schools / Kashef Chowdhury/URBANA

Hana Abdel — Wed, 30 Sep 2020 00:00:00 +0000

This prototype school was designed for construction within the Rohingya refugee camps, arguably the largest refugee camp in the world, in the southernmost district of Bangladesh close to the border with Myanmar. In view of government-imposed restrictions on the use of ‘permanent’ building materials like cement, brick, steel etc, the architect opted for the single most available bio-degradable material in the country: Bamboo.

Gulshan Society Mosque / Kashef Chowdhury - URBANA

Pilar Caballero — Sun, 19 May 2019 21:00:00 +0000

The urban plot allocated for this mosque was relatively small but survey suggested that the mosque would need to accommodate a large congregation. This necessitated reimagining the mosque typology into a vertically stacked volume. Planned for 2500, the building is presently attended by up to 4500 people for the weekly Friday prayer.

EHL Premium Condominiums / Kashef Chowdhury - URBANA

Karen Valenzuela — Wed, 02 Jul 2014 00:00:00 +0000

- A plain cuboid volume on a tight urban site is accented with generous overhangs on each level

Friendship Centre / Kashef Chowdhury - URBANA

Jonathan Alarcón — Sat, 07 Sep 2013 01:00:00 +0000

The Friendship Center near the district town of Gaibandha, Bangladesh, is for an NGO which works with some of the poorest in the country and who live mainly in riverine islands (chars) with very limited access and opportunities. Friendship uses the facility for its own training programs and will also rent out for meetings, training, conferences etc. as income generation.

Chandgaon Mosque / Kashef Mahboob Chowdhury

Nico Saieh — Fri, 15 Oct 2010 00:00:00 +0000

This mosque on the suburban periphery of the port of Chittagong in Bangladesh seeks to fulfil the traditional role of a mosque as both a place of spirituality and as a gathering place for the community. The architect began by identifying the essential elements of a mosque to create a new form and articulation for a typology that goes back for a millennium and a half. The result is this monolithic and spare mosque, pared down to two identical cuboid structures.