The Policy Times Featured Architect Shafique Rahman being Awarded in ARCASIA Competition
Architect Shafique Rahman from Bangladesh awarded 2nd position in the ARCASIA Competition Project is featured in the e-newspaper “The Policy Times.”
The Architects Regional Council of Asia (ARCASIA) Committee for Green and Sustainable Architecture has launched an international competition of ideas on the contribution of Green Buildings in the quest of preventing and fighting the drawbacks of the COVID-19 pandemic. The architects were selected by ARCASIA member organizations in the contest “The Contribution of Green Building in the fight against COVID-19”. Second place was awarded to the project by Architect Shafique Rahman from Bangladesh.
Architect Shafique Rahman from Bangladesh was Awarded 2nd position in the ARCASIA Competition Project Shafique Rahman has designed and undertaken many projects in Bangladesh and Australia. In 2015, he obtained a Masters Degree in Design (M. Des. Sc) in Sustainable Design from the University of Sydney, Australia, and a Bachelor of Architecture (B.Arch) from the University of Khulna in Bangladesh in 2012. During his professional career, he worked with Crawford Architects in Sydney, Australia. During his internship at Ideas Architects, he also participated in designing and collaborating with AIA-registered leading architects in Australia. After returning in 2016, he founded Trikon Architects in Dhaka, Bangladesh, and is now the organization’s Principal Architect. As a professional, he is a Registered Architect Fellow of the Bangladesh Institute of Architects (MIAB), a Member (SONA) of the Australian Institute of Architects (AIA), Bangladesh Architects Australia (BAA) and is a former and respected member of several prestigious institutions. Amongst his many noteworthy achievements in the field, there is his acceptance of the position of 2nd place for “The Contribution of Green Building in the fight against COVID-19” from the Architects Regional Council of Asia (ARCASIA) Committee on Green & Sustainable Architecture (2020). He received a nomination for Exhibition and Presentation in “Vulnerabilities and Inequalities Design Work Session” at the 27th World Congress of Architects – UIA RIO, Brazil (2021). In addition, he was named as a speaker at the 2nd International Conference on Mosque Architecture (ICMA) 2019, held in Malaysia and ARCASIA Forum 20, held in Dhaka. In addition to being a practicing architect from Dhaka, he now also works at the Ahsanullah University of Science and Technology (AUST) as an Assistant Professor.
Shafique Rahman’s project for the contest “The Contribution of Green Buildings in the fight against COVID-19” was focused on presenting a specialized Green Building design. In the 21st Century, a Green Building can be defined as a building that ensures the minimal consumption of artificial resources, has the lowest emission of greenhouse gases and toxic wastes and is able to efficiently operate using renewable energy sources. Green Building design principles adopt a healthy living condition in an environment that substantially benefits the quality of life of the inhabitants, from the perspective of improving mental and physical health. Due to its strategic and innovative design, a Green Building would also effectively reduce the risk of its inhabitants contracting air-born and otherwise contagious viral diseases, which in turn would prove to be an effective approach to fight the COVID-19 Pandemic on a structural level. In the context of Asia, with its humid climate and souring temperatures at certain times of the year, a Green Building structure can work wonders in the case of heat regulation as well.
The Green Building not only runs on renewable energy sources, but it also prioritizes the effective use of recycled resources such as rainwater, gray water, and products made out of recycled materials, which would also benefit the community growing within it in terms of financial expenditure per annum. What makes the Green Building structure unique and praiseworthy is that it not only significantly reduces the consumption of resources such as electricity and water, but it also produces its own energy from renewable sources, for example, Photovoltaic Energy and Wind Energy, which further keeps the balance between supply and demand of energy to an optimum ratio.
COVID-19 patients are often advised to stay indoors, within the safety of their homes, and in complete isolation while the patient’s immune system improves and gets accustomed to fighting the virus. Along with other prescribed conditions, the environment within the space itself plays a substantially important role in the journey of boosting a patient’s immune system. With the use of appropriate placement strategies and multiple pathways for cross ventilation, there will be plenty of airflow within the structure of the building, and the interior will be flooded with natural light throughout the day.