Abstract:
Storytelling is an age old practice that shape much of the world as we know it and
our views on where we stand relative to it; in other words our identity( Berger &
Luckmann, 1966). Being a nation that have survived waves of colonisation, invasion,
wars and countless cultural reforms, our collective identity remains eclectic and everchanging.
Incidentally, this paper portrays a process to understand, encourage and
celebrate the diverse practices of story-telling in Bangladeh through architectural
design of spaces for growing children and those young at heart, in Dhaka. Here, the
process in question involves revising the policies and the design of Bangladesh
Shishu Academy, considering its surroundings and natural resouces with the help of
various case studies, relevant literature and site analysis. In essence, the design
hopes to provide a connection between people (the future generation of Bangladesh
and their predecessors) and place ( the site; indoors and outdoors ) through
possibilities for meaningful interactions, experiences, discoveries and stories. To
sum up, throughout the development of design, a welcoming, open and positive
environment has been attempted to be attained to encourage spontaneity and the
search for our identity in the past in the future.
