VIRTUAL: Prague Heritages

Abstract

Buildings built between 1947 and 1971 played an important role in an attempt to seek national identity during the postcolonial cold war period of Bangladesh when the country was known as East Pakistan and was unified with West Pakistan. From the colonial anxiety to the development phase of rebuilding one nation with two halves of Pakistan, this project will unravel the connections between geopolitical tensions, socio-economical concerns, cultural and religious perplexities through an investigation of a series of governmental and institutional buildings located in Bangladesh. The architecture during the cold war period not only depicts the spatial transformation but also represents a narrative of awakening from the supremacy. In an attempt to gain control in the Eastern part, the ruling Government of Pakistan sought to appease the subaltern populace by developing the province. These development schemes brought opportunities for both foreign and local architects to explore diversified Modernism within a postcolonial network. Although these constructed designs introduced an architectural shift in the region, nevertheless, the transitions from colonial to postcolonial architecture were overshadowed by the neo-colonial subjugation of Pakistani authority. The analysis will explore the relationship between nationalism and architecture through a study of power and design in the cold war context of East Pakistan. This research also unlocks a wider possibility for new research in the history of Bangladeshi architecture. By studying the institutional and governmental buildings, this paper can gain an understanding of the paradoxical decolonisation in its contradiction and inconsistency.