The 24th World Congress of Architecture UIA2011 TOKYO is going to be held between September 25, Sunday - October 1, Saturday, 2011. The UIA Academic Program has declared a call for entry of academic papers and design to be presented in different events of the congress.

The UIA2011 TOKYO Academic Program will provide architects, engineers, researchers and students from all over the world the opportunity to express their opinions related to one of three sub themes of UIA2011 TOKYO: (1)Environment, (2)Cultural Exchange and (3)Life, in two presentation categories: research papers and design works.

The deadline of abstract submission is October 31, 2010. The authors whose abstracts have been accepted will conduct an oral or poster presentation in the UIA2011 TOKYO Academic Program from September 26 through 28, 2011.
For details, download these PDF files:
- Recruitment Guidelines (PDF/164KB)
-Sample Layout (Research Paper) (PDF/20KB)
-Sample Layout (Design Works) (PDF/131KB)
And visit the UIA 2011 Tokyo website.

Overview
The self titled exhibition “architist” will contain mixed media works of students of architecture. The architecture students are from different well known private universities BRAC University, State University of Bangladesh North South University and The University of Asia Pacific who have gathered and produced works based on their individual themes and ideas.

The exhibition will be held on 12th-16th of November 2009, at well known Drik Gallery sponsored by DELVISTAA Foundation. Professor Hamiduzzaman Khan, Chairman of Sculpture Department, Faculty of Fine Arts, Dhaka University and Shanoor Wahid, Editor of Star Campus are invited as pecial guests.

The bodies of work will try to explore the idea of Art through the eyes of each individual. Is it just about the use of colours and bold brush strokes? Or is it more subtle and gentle. It may answer the question does art and architecture walk hand in hand? Or do they follow completely different paths. Criticisms will be noted down from respected Architects as well as Artists. [Submitted by salzar]

Often it is said that painting helps to overcome the ambiguity of architectural design's thought process. Painting helps to practice and realize the transformation of feelings in abstract visualizations. May be thats why traditionally we see architects as artists and vice versa, like Michelangelo and Bernini as architects and Le Corbusier as a painter.

Architect Mustapha Khalid Palash is one of the most celebrated names in Bangladeshi architecture. His partnership practice (along with Architect Foyez Ullah) ‘Vistaara Architects’ sets milestone examples of making international standard modern buildings and the list includes UTC Building, Basundhara City, Westin Dhaka, Peoples Insurance Building, Banglalink Head Office, Grameenphone Corporate head office and more.
Beyond his architectural practice Mustapha Khalid Palash also paints, writes, plays and he is a conscious activist in sociopolitical issues. His first painting exhibition was inaugurated by famous painter Kamrul Hasan in 1978 when he (Palash) was 16.
And now ‘Of Conflict and Harmony’ is his second solo exhibition going to be started from October 23rd at the Gallery of Fine Arts Asiatic Society of Bangladesh. We hope this exhibition will help to put a light on the contemporary complexity and ambiguity of future of architecture.

Inaugural Program
Welcome address by Prof. Hamiduzzaman Khan, address by Chief Guest Mr. Abul Kalam Azad, Honorable Minister of Information and Culture, Govt. of Peoples Republic of Bangladesh.
Special Guest Architect Mubasshar Hussain, Chairman, Architects Regional Council Asia [ARCASIA] and President, Institute of Architects Bangladesh [IAB]
Prof. Nazrul Islam, Chairman, UGC
Architect Prof. Shamsul Wares
Architect Mustapha Khalid Palash  
Launching of the book “of Conflict and Harmony”, Inauguration of the exhibition, Refreshment
Time and Date: 04:30 PM, Friday, 23 October, 2009  
Venue: Gallery of Fine Arts Asiatic Society of Bangladesh 5, Old Secretariat Road, Nimtoli Ramna, Dhaka-1000   Exhibition shall remain open till 22 November, 2009 Everyday from 11:00 AM to 08:00 PM

Here are some quick-picks from the exhibition:


Circular Passion



City Mirror 2


Collision 2

Architect Professor Shamsul Wares gave an insightful writing about Mustapha Khalid Palash's exhibition. Here is what he said:
"poetic construction of the abstract
Painter Mustapha Khalid Palash is a modernist by instinct. He is inclined towards abandoning the realm of appearances in pursuit of absolute pure form. It implies not only for his paintings but for his architecture as well as graphic design. For him abstraction is not simply self-referential rather it represents a powerful way of perceiving and ultimately transforming the world. He believes that art does not lose any of its expressive power of meaning when divorced from the tangible world. In fact through the formal expression of pure sensation he hopes to discover a universal visual language able to transcend mundane experience and place the viewer in touch with ultimately the spiritual world.
Many terms have been employed to describe and identify this kind of non imitative works of art produced throughout 20th century, including abstract, nonobjective and non presentational. All these terms refer to an art that depends solely on colour, line and shape for its imagery rather than motifs drawn from observable reality. Early exponents of pure abstraction were Kupka, Maveirch, Kindensky, Arp, Delaunay and Mondrian among others.
In the series of paintings created by Palash called “of Conflict and Harmony” pure colour, fractured by light, virtually eliminates any recognizable vestiges of the observed world. He abandoned even the pretence of subject creating an abstract world of vibrating colour forms with pure musical sensation. In these paintings [oil and acrylic] the colour composition varies from monochrome to contrast creating dynamic interaction of brilliant colour harmonies. In these pure abstract paintings composition is the fullest expression of his art. Rationally ordered structure suggests that harmony supersedes the apparently chaotic upheavals of the surface of the painting. In some of these paintings colouristic aspects merge with the architectonic approach of his painting. In his work, at all circumstances he performs with great aplomb.
In the series of paintings called “Circular Passion”, the painted circles, partially transparent float serenely across one another above the background like planets approaching and orbiting through space. Circle as a connection with the cosmic, points quiet clearly to the fourth dimension. The emission of light from the circular forms provides allusion of the mystic affirming a kind of spiritual basis of his art.
Pure abstract painting is the result of the articulation of the constructed colour, space and structure on the canvas. This art creates an arena of space and forms totally ignoring social values or meaning. Abstract or non objective painting purifies itself by rejecting description, story or illustration so that the viewer can experience pure aesthetic pleasure like that of instrumental music. In 1910 Kindensky was the first to create pure abstract painting. Later many painters contributed to strengthen abstraction. From 1980’s painters began to lose interest in pure abstraction. Colour, space and form was not sufficient without a commitment towards the society. They began to feel compulsion to borrow elements from linguistics [semiotics, semantics, syntax, metaphor, etc] in order to provide meaning to the abstract art. These artists are a section of the post-modernists. They use a kind of sign language by using arrow head, symbol, geometric design, mathematical sign, dot patch, obscure images of human, birds, houses, furniture, etc. and place them along form and colour to create poetic abstract art. Palash has endevoured to work with such influences and produced works to abstract from his perception of things seen in order to realize painting, atmospheric distillation of the urban cityscape of Dhaka [Myths of Dhaka] or the country landscape [forest, Kash Forest, Sundarbans, etc]. From the outset he learned to translate sensuous, visual experiance into broad fields of colour structured in relation to the flatness of the picture plane. A cool formalist and colourist and in the context of his art he eschewed almost personal association of his experience in favour of meanings more generally evocative of the interaction between inner and outer world.
Finally contrast of freedom and control in his work seems to evolve from his personal struggle to mitigate between intuitive expression and calculated abstracted form. He needs now to continue and gradually evolve and devote more towards drawing and painting to achieve greater insight."
Samsul Wares


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Submitted by: Rubel Raf
Editing: Mohammad Tauheed