Peter Armstrong

The Geopolitics of Jatio Sangsad Bhaban in the Cold War Era

The Jatio Sangsad Bhaban (JSB) or National Assembly Building in Bangladesh, is an emblem of Bangladeshi identity. It was commissioned by the then Military dictator of Pakistan Ayub Khan in 1962 and designed by renowned American architect Louis I Kahn. Commissioned in the period of intense global political activity during the Cold War, the building has become iconic because of its cultural and historical significance in the context of immense change in Bangladesh. During this period, developing countries, including Pakistan, were given large amounts of technical, cultural and military aid by the US in an attempt to stem the growth of communism. Architecture and the arts became cultural weapons. Against this backdrop American architect Louis I Kahn was commissioned to design the National Assembly Building in East Pakistan in 1964. Ksiazek, an architectural historian describes this as a form of US cultural imperialism. This paper investigates the underlying issues that relate to the notion of American cultural imperialism in connection to JSB and considers Ksiazek’s hypothesis as the pivotal argument in its investigation.

Jatio Sangsad Bhaban Complex: The Emergence of Neocolonial Capitalist Planning in Dhaka as a Sequel

Jatio Sangsad Bhaban (JSB), the National Assembly Complex in Bangladesh (Former East Pakistan) envisioned in 1962, followed by the 1959 Minoprio, Master plan initiated the new phase of modern space creation in the landscape of Dhaka. Dhaka, the capital of Bangladesh, grew towards north from the bank of Buriganga river went through a series of transformation over 400 years. The locally controlled growth of old Dhaka during the 17th to 18thth century under the rubrics of mostly indigenous settlement, morphed into British colonial and Geddes Dhaka during the 19th 20th century, culminating into the emergence of JSB Complex Dhaka in a neocolonial Capitalist driven world order in the early sixties during cold war era. The 3 layers of city segment can be seen as an outcome of the changing political setting from local to European (British) colonial and finally under US governed global political order. This paper will try to connect the 3 stages of spatial transformation with the element of shifting power and resource control in line with the theoretical framework by Kim Dovey which states that space creation in a city is articulated and constructed by the power structure through the control of resources and economic influence.

The Design of Nature in Heian Kyoto

This paper investigates the interdependence of the shindentsukuri style of residence and those parts of the Sakuteiki which define internal relationships between buildings and gardens within the confines of a one cho block in the city of Kyoto in the latter part of the 11th century.