Foreign Minister AK Abdul Momen has said no matter what the size of their project are, it is the architects who could make a difference, among its users as well as in its surroundings.
He urged the architects to be mindful of their enormous responsibility and deliver "innovative solutions" to some of the socio-economic problems that affect people today.
"I know that every building is also a commercial endeavour, but please, do not leave its success to the balance sheet alone. Your cumulative efforts could be epoch-making both in our cityscape and for its habitats," he said.
Momen was speaking as the chief guest at the Construction Fair 2022 commemorating the golden jubilee of the Institute of Architects Bangladesh (IAB) at Bangabandhu International Convention Centre in Agargaon Wednesday.
"We have a shortage of land, yet we should be more mindful of landscaping in our architectural design," he said while speaking at a function marking the Golden Jubilee programme of IAB on Wednesday evening.
He said architects in Bangladesh need to be involved with key socio-political themes of society – population density, climate change, water management, and migration – themes that are at the same time global in nature.
"I hope that architecture in Bangladesh will deliver innovative solutions to some of the socio-economic problems that affect us today," Momen said.
In Bangladesh, a lot of people are moving to cities for river erosion, flood or other climate disorders.
"Could we address these challenges with architecture? Could we manage the stream of daily newcomers in our cityscape with architecture? Architects need to ask these questions and put their energy and wisdom into solving these issues," Momen said.
In the city of Dhaka, each year, people lose millions of working hours, burn billions worth of additional energy, and exhaust uncalled carbon-emission due to bumper-to-bumper traffic jams.
"It may be time for our architects and engineers to come up with innovative ways of reducing this traffic congestion," the foreign minister said.
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