Most Read

Spare this treasure of our pride

11 December 2003, 18:00 PM
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
By Takad Ahmed Chowdhury, Lecturer in English, The University of Asia Pacific
11 December 2003, 18:00 PM
The excerpts from a conversation between Nathaniel Kahn, creator of "My Architect: A Son's Journey," a recently released acclaimed film on his father, the illustrious architect Louis I. Kahn and K. Ashraf, a Bangladeshi architect published on December 2 was extremely worth reading. The promising film-maker from New York discovered our Parliament Complex project as his father's greatest piece of work rising above the barrier of time with it's architectural splendour, and projected it prominently in the film that received considerable appreciation from critics in the pages of The New York Times, the New Yorker, Variety and so on. Our pride and gratification increase even more with Nathaniel's prediction of this absolute masterpiece of modern architecture being the subject of several books for future architects.

This seminal, "abstract and evocative" (in the words of The New York Times) piece of work has brought the name of Bangladesh to the global audience alongside the name of Louis I. Kahn, who tallies with the greatest 20th century architects like Le Corbusier, Frank Lloyd Wright and Miles van der Rohe.

But we feel utterly stupefied as we think back about the plans to alter the original structure of this "abstract and evocative" design by some quarters, who claim themselves to be holders and cultivators of democracy(!) in the country. Would our stalwarts pay due heed to our earnest request to let off this treasure from disfigurement, as they have so far spared only a few things for the nation to feel proud of from their inconsequential and callous approach.

Google News LinkFor all latest news, follow The Daily Star's Google News channel.