Story-telling through architecture (rethinking Bangladesh Shishu Academy)

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.