Bashirul Haq (24 June 1942 – 4 April 2020) was a Bangladeshi architect, town planner and visiting professor ofMIT. He was regarded as one of the most influential architects in South Asia in terms of environmentally and socially responsive design.
Haq was born inBrahmanbaria (now a district ofBangladesh). 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 theNational College of Arts, inLahore,Pakistan in 1964. He received John Heinrich Tuition, Scholarship and Teaching Assistantship atUniversity of New Mexico, United States in 1971 and completed his master's in architecture from the university in 1975.[1]
Haq (4th from right) atSUST jury sessionFrom left; Haq,Ken Yeang and Kazi Ashraf
After completing his master's degree, Haq started working for the firmKallmann 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 ofSOM 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.[2] After several years of not visiting the United States, in 1989, he visitedMassachusetts 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 ofAlvar Aalto andAldo Rossi inspired him most.
Architectural works
Chhayanaut, Dhaka
MIDAS Tower, Dhanmondi, Dhaka
Asra Apartments, Dhanmondi, Dhaka
East West University, Dhaka
Bangladesh Chemical Industries Corporation Building, Dhaka
Became part of an International Exhibit Entitled5000 years of Pakistan
Chairman of the jury board,Holcim Green Built Bangladesh Award[4][5]
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
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.
