Bashirul Haq

Bashirul Haq (24 June 1942 – 4 April 2020) was a Bangladeshi architect, town planner and visiting professor of MIT. He was regarded as one of the most influential architects in South Asia in terms of environmentally and socially responsive design.

Early life Haq was born in Brahmanbaria (now a district of Bangladesh). His father was a deputy collector from the Sylhet district and for that reason, Haq spent the majority of his childhood there. He completed his Bachelor of Architecture from the National College of Arts, in Lahore, Pakistan in 1964. He received John Heinrich Tuition, Scholarship and Teaching Assistantship at University of New Mexico, United States in 1971 and completed his master's in architecture from the university in 1975.

Career

After completing his master's degree, Haq started working for the firm Kallmann McKinnell. He was interested in returning to his homeland. However, another Bangladeshi-American engineer, Fazlur Rahman Khan, discouraged him from returning to Bangladesh citing a newly independent war devastated nation. Khan, who was then the partner of SOM instead interviewed and advised Haq to join there. Khan suggested he visit Europe and return to the United States. But Haq flew to Bangladesh from Europe and started practicing architecture. He established Bashirul Haq & Associates in 1977. After several years of not visiting the United States, in 1989, he visited Massachusetts Institute of Technology as an invited visiting professor of design.

In his 46 years of professional career, Haq has designed more than 300 buildings. According to Haq, the works of Alvar Aalto and Aldo Rossi inspired him most.

Selected works Residential Architect's Family Home and Studio, Indira Road, Dhaka Bhatshala House (Architect's village home), Brahmanbaria Ramna Apartment Complex, Moghbazar, Dhaka Century Apartment Complex, Moghbazar, Dhaka Century Tower, Moghbazar, Dhaka Lake View Apartment Complex, Dhanmondi, Dhaka Segunbagicha Apartment Complex, Segunbagicha, Dhaka Kalindi Apartment Complex, 36 Indira Road, Dhaka Gulshan Pride, Gulshan, Dhaka Dhanshiri Apartment Complex, 35 Indira Road, Dhaka Asra Apartments, Dhanmondi, Dhaka

Office 20-storied Association for Social Advancement (ASA) Head Office Building 20-storied Head Office Building of Bangladesh Chemical Industries Corporation (BCIC), Dilkusha C/A., Dhaka 20-storied Head Office Building of People's Insurance Company Ltd. (PICL), Dilkusha C/A., Dhaka Projects under Cyclone Related Disaster Preparedness Programme Community Development Centre at Kutubdia, Moghnama and Moheshkhali and Cox's Bazar German Red Cross Community Based Multipurpose Cyclone Shelters at Tolatoli, Kachubunia and Khandkar Para, Teknaf, Cox's Bazar Cyclone resistant Housing in 6 Locations at Cox's Bazar district MIDAS Center, Dhanmondi, Dhaka

Physical planning Physical planning of three upazilas under Kishoreganj Distriction, namely Katiadi, Kuliarchar and Bajitpur Physical planning of three upazilas under Faridpur District, namely Nagarkanda, Alphadanga and Charvadrashan Physical planning of Faridpur District

Institutes Facilities for American International and Secondary School, Baridhara, Dhaka Hostel cum-Seminar Facilities Hosted People's Health Assembly Shabuj Shona Center, Manikgonj Training Center for Nijerakori, Bogra Chhayanaut Bhaban, Dhanmondi, Dhaka Sunbeams School, Uttara, Dhaka East West University, Dhaka Drik-Pathshala, Panthapath, Dhaka

Consultancy Central Diesel Workshop and Housing Project for Bangladesh Railway US Chancery Building, Dhaka. Kallmann McKinnell & Wood, United States Rail II Project for Bangladesh Railway. Dhaka, Parbatipur, Pahartali, Ishurdi. International Rail Consultant, Canada GMP Standard Factory Design at Tongi for Beximco Pharmaceutical Ltd. Tongi. CMPS&F Pty Ltd. (Egis Group), Australia

Awards and honors Aga Khan Award for Architecture, shortlisted in 1980, 1992 and 2001 Member, Board of Trustees, Fazlur Rahman Khan Foundation, Dhaka Works exhibition at Swiss Architecture Museum in Basel, Switzerland; 2017 Works exhibition at "Bengal Stream: The Vibrant Architecture Scene of Bangladesh" in Basel, Switzerland in 2017, and later on in Bordeaux, France in 2018 and in Frankfurt, Germany in 2019

Publications 1994 "Battling the Storm – Study on Cyclone Resistance Housing". Published by the German Red Cross, 1999. Bashirul Haq: Architect. Monograph edited by Iftekhar Ahmed and Sheikh Rubaiya Sultana, was published in 2019 by Copal Publishing with the Department of Architecture of BRAC University.