Bashirul Haq’s lifelong search was for an architectural expression that would respond to the needs of modern contemporary life, while reflecting the building traditions of the land he was working on – the ground, the soil. This, I think, is nowhere more aptly expressed, than in his final resting place, which is also his birthplace.
Entering the village of Bhatshala through a path you are greeted by a mosque. The design is familiar, with the pond next to it. Going on we enter the house nestled amongst the other houses with its own uthan. Climbing to the second floor one looks out at paddy fields and to the graveyard. This is Bashirul Haq’s final resting place. In the late monsoon the water bodies that surround it are abloom with lotus flowers. Earth to earth – this is the earth which had first greeted him, which in his architectural endeavours, he had tried to transform into living designs.
Bashirul Haq would describe his life’s journey as a series of happy coincidences. From this very humble rural background, where he lived with his grandparents till he was in Class VI, he moved first to Barishal (where his father was posted) and then along with the rest of his family to Dhaka, where he completed his SSC from Pogose School. Two very important years were spent in Dhaka College as an Intermediate Student, from whence, on securing an Inter-Wing Scholarship, he proceeded to the National College of Arts in Lahore, Pakistan.
These were very formative years for Bashirul Haq. In Lahore, he got introduced to an aesthetics that embodied a South Asian sensibility, encompassing its ancient history, its Mughal past, as well as the new nation-building ideas and processes. Study trips to Mohenjo Daro, and living and studying in the old school established by Rudyard Kipling’s father, was indeed memorable and made an impact on his young mind. He came in contact with great minds, such as the poet, Faiz Ahmad Faiz, and the friendships he forged there, both Pakistani and Bengali, remained for life.
After having graduated in 1964, he started his professional life in Dhaka in the 60s, and had the opportunity of working in Mazharul Islam’s practice. He also worked at Thariani and Associates, and later with Rafiqul Huq and Associates. In this early phase, he designed two residential buildings in Lalmatia, which brought him to another bend in his journey. These houses were for the siblings of Fazlur Rahman Khan, and, on a visit to Dhaka, the great Fazlur Rahman Khan suggested that Bashir continue his studies in Chicago, at the architectural institute there.
Bashir duly left for the US in February 1971, and on that fateful day in March, found himself in Chicago in the company of F.R. Khan, who was getting involved into the liberation struggle. There was some time between the start of the academic semester in September, and Bashir decided to take a trip to New Mexico, where his old teacher from Lahore, Harold Benson was now based. So another coincidence occurred in Bashir’s life, as on experiencing the architecture of that place, he felt that it was better suited to what he could do on his return home, Thus he enrolled in the M.Arch programme at the University of New Mexico in Albuquerque, from where he finished his M.Arch degree in 1975.
Bashirul Haq studied and worked in New Mexico from 1971 to 1977.
On his return to Dhaka in 1977, he set up a practice called Bashirul Haq and Associates, which he ran for the rest of his life.
From 1977-2020, Bashirul Haq immersed himself on a new journey, - a search for an architectural idiom for modern Bangladesh. This archive is the most extensive documentation of that search. We hope that this documentation will generate new meaning for the contemporary world of architecture.
This biography is written by Ar. Bashirul Haq's wife, Prof Firdous Azim. Firdous Azim is a Professor of English and is chair of the Department of English and Humanities at BRAC University.
elegy written in a redbrick house
by Kaiser Haq
Published on the Daily Star on 5th June, 2021.
the postman plods his weary way
eternal bag slung over shoulder
comes up to me at the unearthly hour
when evening azan brings dusk tumbling
down like playful children somersaulting
and i don't know what we're at –
if it's the end or beginning of something
no doubt stars are up there somewhere
too shy to twinkle in polluted air
and every now and then a super blood moon –
phrase redolent of nocturnal shoot-outs
in the wildest of wild west westerns –
appears on tv news and in astrology columns –
lucky for you to escape such sublunary concerns –
yours is the calm of contemplation and compassion
out of which you've sent us a beguiling parcel
the postman hands over ceremoniously –
the wrapping torn off flutters away like sparrows
and i am holding in my hand a shiny ceramic brick –
bemusement gives way to sudden illumination –
i ring your doorbell, call out names frantically –
baby rene partha chukku bachchi
and the friends i know are supposed to come too –
tipu all the way from chicago and kochi
and nausheen and ekram bhai from new york
already busy grilling katla fish –
i place the brick at the centre of the table –
at once your presence pervades our mindscape
now we know why the sight of redbrick houses
sent a pang every time we passed them by –
redbrick like signature or fingerprint is you –
at dessert i know exactly what to do –
smash the brick into numerous pieces
and pass them round one piece for each
to put in the mouth and suck –
earthy, sweetish or salty, smooth or deliciously rough –
fitting end to the meal you've graced –
we're no longer slaves to loss
now that you're in us
we and you are so to speak one
and real or imagined this oneness
is palpable in remembrance
Kaiser Haq is a poet, translator, essayist, critic, academic and freedom fighter. He is also Professor, Dept. of English & Humanities, ULAB.