When I was only eight, I went to a book fair with my father, and he bought me a book named ‘Encyclopedia of the world history’ which included a pictorial description of human civilization starting from the pre-historic era up to the recent past. This book shaped my upbringing tremendously. As I continued to explore more, my understanding of history deepened and my area of interest concentrated in the field of art and architecture. My enthusiasm towards this field always received appreciation from my school teachers and they encouraged me to become an architect. After finishing high school, with my zeal and perseverance, I got admission in the Department of Architecture, at Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology (BUET), the top ranked university of our country.
During my undergraduate years, I started to realize that architecture has myriads of branches; starting from the core science of structural calculations, environmental & climatic studies to the history of art & architecture, graphic art and designing. An architect may have a variety of expertise and eventually needs to choose only one option, where all the efforts and dedications will be concentrated. Gradually, I found history of art and architecture the most interesting course, and I particularly enjoyed knowing more about a widespread architectural phenomenon typical at its time; rather than a series of exceptional masterpieces of one architect.
Day by day, the more I was going deep into this field of architecture, the more I was getting interested in its historical development. By the time I finished my third year, I visited almost all the historical sites of archeological importance not only within my own country, but in India as well. My involvement in some professional works, during fourth year of my studies, enabled me to gather some money and I decided to take a trip to Europe. This travel gave me immense opportunity to experience ancient and medieval archeological sites in Greece and Italy and to visit numerous museums and art galleries in Rome, Venice, Florence, Madrid, London and Paris. My views were broadened as I met various people in those museums, starting from students of Art History to some renowned artists of this era. I see my travel as a metamorphosis of my life, because the practical experiences I obtained have shaped me the person I am right now.
While studying, I volunteered in some international seminars, where my duty was to take foreign delegates to the historical sites in my city and act as a tour guide. Besides, my membership in some local art galleries often allowed me to volunteer in several art exhibitions. Soon after my Europe tour, I realized the importance of learning an additional foreign language besides English, so I started to learn French in the Alliance Française de Dacca. I got a scholarship from there that enabled me to work as an interpreter and opened my door to innumerable opportunities. I also intend to learn German and Spanish in near future.
My passion for the traditional architecture led me to compile the photographs of the old buildings of Dhaka, while volunteering in the celebration of ‘400 years of Dhaka city’ in 2008. As I encountered those buildings in person, I was shocked to see how poorly those priceless buildings are being conserved. Moreover, there is no documentation and no public awareness regarding those architectures, due to lack of publications. In order to know more about those buildings I read famous historian Muntasir Mamoon’s Smriti Bismritir Nagari Dhaka (Dhaka, the City of Memory and Oblivion). Undoubtedly, it is the basic work in compiling the history of Dhaka but I found the book to be mainly descriptive and it failed to meet my thirst of knowledge in the architectural significance of those buildings.
After graduation, I joined the Bangladesh University as a Teaching Assistant where I was involved both in Design studios and architectural history courses. While preparing lectures for the courses I realized, one professional degree in architecture is not sufficient to teach architectural history at the university level. It requires proper specialization. Besides, in our country, there is an increasing demand for teachers in this field, yet there is no university that offers higher education in architectural history. As I shared my views with my mentor Architect Shamsul Wares, he highly appreciated my interest and encouraged me to pursue my higher studies in architectural history. My training, as both an architect and an architectural historian, will shape my approach to analyze the old buildings of architectural importance in significant ways.
After that, I contacted Dr. Adnan Morshed of Catholic University of America and informed him about my interest. Dr. Morshed advised me to focus on the Armenian church of old Dhaka. Accordingly, I visited the church and found it was built in 1781, by the Armenian diasporas, who started to settle down in Dhaka from the 16th century, along with the other ethnic groups coming from Europe. The church consists of a typical Byzantine church plan, a slightly slender Florentine dome, East-European facade treatment with decorative parapet and the ornamentation reflecting Baroque and Rococo style in architecture. All these hybrid architectural features of Armenian Church give me the opportunity to analyze the broader aspect of the long history of amalgamation, and how the racial-melting and cross-pollination among different ethnic groups resulted in the hybridization in architecture in Dhaka.
In future, I wish to see myself as an architectural historian, researching and teaching in academic settings. As I am interested in both architecture and history, I have plans to compile the colonial architecture of Dhaka in a book, where I might identify, classify and analyze critically some selected buildings with plans, sections, sketches and photographs. I also have plans to write books in related fields as well as translating from French or other languages, which might encourage my future generations to focus in this field.
I firmly believe that an understanding of the built environment can give access to a better comprehension of society’s history and can help improve its design and urban plans for the future. Therefore, my commitment to the society is to train myself properly in the most appropriate field, where I might express my unique talents, interests and abilities. To me, life’s mission is not simply an occupation; rather it’s a steady application of efforts to remain true to my best.
- Sabrina
(August 2009)
(August 2009)
