" At one time it used to take 15minutes to reach Paribagh from Gulshan but now it takes a full hour. The car is being used for 45 more minutes for the same purpose and a man takes 45 minutes more of his life to accomplish the same trip. Also petrol is being wasted. The communication engineers don't seem to be doing much. Today man is after the wild rush to earn more money. In our roads we have ten types of traffic. There is someone who is limping along, while another is in a rickshaw, a third is on a bicycle, a fourth in a scooter. This is accompanied by others in trucks, buses, vans and cars and taxis. At present we can barely control two types of transportation."

In the competition, Islam said, the students design buildings which can be built not only in Dhanmondi but in other parts of Dhaka too. In three bighas of land, seven families have been given the allotted flats to live in with space for their children to play as well. The people who live here are well to-do but there is no indication that there is a care for the future generation here, Islam stressed. The students within the given time of three weeks have proved admirable creative ability, Islam reflected. He suggested that the problems of living conditions in other areas other than Dhanmondi should similarly be planned out and discussed in detail. Dhaka, Islam insisted, could be a pleasant city with its land, water and vegetation distribution.

Architect Saif-Ul Haque, also giving his opinions on this occasion, said that the current rebuilding of Dhanmondi needs to be critically seen. He said, "What is being built today is bound to fail as a viable environment for living as no comprehensive or partial plan exists for the ultimate scenario of this rebuilding." Haque raised the questions: How many people will ultimately live here? What will be the living condition of the inhabitants in terms of sunlight, natural ventilation, open spaces, trees and vegetation?

Haque said that we do have plans, but unfortunately these plans are too vague to visualize anything of the future. He said, " I stress on the word visualize as that is how we can have an idea of the things to happen. Architects work in that process. Probably the plans have been kept vague to benefit dubious intentions. This is the story of the entire city of Dhaka."

He pointed out that Alliance Francaise has been in Dhanmondi since the 60s and has been a witness all the transformation that has been going around. As one of the stakeholders of Dhanmondi, Haque said that it feels obliged to participate in the improvement of the environment. "With this in mind," he said, "this exercise in the form of a competition for architectural students has been organized. As the current scenario does not hold much of an optimism, Dhanmondi may be ready for another rebuilding in another 15 to 20 years. Sanity and planning sense may prevail at that time. We wanted to look at a scenario for that time.

We were told that the competition was aimed to make the participant think beyond the anti-urban strategy of plots, and to present a vision of an integrated urban matrix of buildings, spaces and community. Since the laying of Dhanmondi residential area, Haque said the planning in Dhaka has remained confined to plotting, i.e. division of virgin land into plots of various sizes and allotting them to prospective applicants. Old buildings are being brought down for new multistoried buildings ranging from 6 to 20 storied ones. This rebuilding process, Haque insisted, lacks any broader urban vision apart from the immediate densification and moneymaking. Such wanton building activity continues to ravage the so-called planned areas like Dhannmodi, Gulshan and Banani.

The focus in the design competition is on the creation of community, community spaces, and an enhanced relationship with the larger urban context.

The first prize went to Mohammed Emran Hossain (BUET), Mohammed Shabab Habib (BUET) and Mohammed Moniruzzaman Miah (Khulna). The second prize went to Khondoker Abdel Hossain, Pranam Chakma, and Moinul Hoque (BUET) while the third prize went to Maksumul Aziz Mostazi, Md. Mehdi Zaman and Farid Ahmed (Khulna). The jury consisted of Mazharul Islam ( senior architect), Saif Ul-Haque (architect), Qazi M Arif (architect), Mohiuddin Babar (representative of Lafarge) and Philippe Nicaise (Director of Alliance Francaise).

Lafarge provided the prize money and IAB the organisational support.

The students' exhibition "Another living architecture in Dhanmondi" was seen within the context of French futuristic architecture exhibition "Vivre Autrement"

On 14, 15 and 16 September there will be the screening of documentary films on contemporary architecture in France and Switzerland.