Renowned Bangladeshi architect and Aga Khan Award-winning practitioner Kashef Mahboob Chowdhury is set to launch his monograph, Meditations in Entropy: The Work of Kashef Chowdhury / URBANA, on Saturday.
The event, organised by Archiconnect, will be held at the Crowne Plaza Ballroom, Gulshan-2, Dhaka.
The publication, which highlights architecture as a thoughtful response to climate, landscape, and collective memory, marks a significant moment for contemporary architectural discourse in Bangladesh.
Published by Park Books of Zurich, Switzerland, the 500-plus page volume is the first comprehensive monograph documenting 30 years of practice by Kashef Chowdhury / URBANA.
It features 18 realised projects across diverse typologies, illustrated through sketches, drawings, and photographs by the internationally renowned architectural photographer Hélène Binet.
The book also includes critical essays by Kenneth Frampton, William JR Curtis, Robert McCarter, Ainun Nishat, and Philip Ursprung.
CR Abrar, adviser to the Ministry of Education, is scheduled to attend the programme as chief guest, while His Excellency Reto Renggli, ambassador of Switzerland to Bangladesh, will join as guest of honour.
Abrar is expected to address the importance of architectural thinking that is deeply rooted in social and environmental realities.
During the event, Kashef Chowdhury is anticipated to reflect on his three decades of practice, which have been shaped by ecological vulnerability and social responsibility.
He views the monograph not merely as a celebration of objects, but as a reflection on architectural processes emerging from restraint, context, and empathy.
Other guest speakers will include Dr Ainun Nishat, a leading specialist in climate change and water resources; Professor Shamsul Wares, eminent architect and academician; and Dr Abu Sayeed M Ahmed, president of the Institute of Architects Bangladesh.
They are expected to highlight the significance of the publication as a critical document that places Bangladeshi architectural practice within a global discourse while remaining grounded in local realities.
The launch is expected to be attended by prominent architects, academicians, planners, students, cultural figures, and members of the media.
