The Garden Oasis: Rethinking Gulistan cultural complex as a breathing space

BRAC University, Department of Architecture, Dhaka

Project idea

Gulistan is a significant part of the capital, Dhaka associated with its rich history and is located in a transitional zone between two contrasting sections of the city, Old Dhaka and New Dhaka which lies to its south and north, respectively. Bengali culture and sprawling urban growth have been present there since colonial times. However, it was during the 1960s that Gulistan started developing as an important economic and commercial powerhouse.

The focus of this project was to address Gulistan Park's urban environment and how it relates to the social, cultural, and historical context of Gulistan. In this extremely congested urban environment with little to no open space, the neighbourhood has been in dire need of a suitable recreational area. This idea sought to fill that exact need by giving the neighbourhood a place to unwind and explore other cultures. Gulistan Park, along with the cultural complex located adjacent to it, can function as a hub for leisure and culture.

The idea behind the project was to make the park and cultural complex more permeable, which would enhance the physical and visual connections between them. It additionally addressed issues that would be beneficial to the neighbourhood as a whole; such as social, cultural, and urban issues. Semi-formal areas are designated for vendors and hawkers, with regenerative activities to expand the opportunities for leisure, and cultural exploration and in turn generate revenue. All in all, this project was thought of as a journey, a green oasis where one will be allowed to enter the building without being self-conscious about it. A space that could act as an ‘in-between’, a transitional space between journeys, increasing social interaction.

Project description

Gulistan is a highly dense urban neighborhood and serves as a commercial hub. To gain an understanding of the context, new contextualism was introduced to the project. Focus was given to the understanding of urban context, street culture, and social and cultural issues.

Addressing street culture and urban context: Street culture is very evident in this neighborhood and the roadside serves the people for their uses. Be it vendors, hawkers selling on the roadside to easy availability of transport. The west of the site is congested because of vendors on the walkways and packed with formal informal transport stands. Hence space has been given to the vendors and pedestrians on the west of the site to decrease congestion on walkways and also to attract the customers more as shops function the best on the roadside. Assuming that the urban situation prevails, the same space could be used as a need for preparation space for those transport stands.

Enhanced Interaction and Connectivity: The project places a strong emphasis on fostering more interactions with the neighborhood by introducing a variety of new programs to encourage an increase in the scope for cultural exploration and recreation and generate revenue through the newly generated programs. An effort was made to connect and bring in more people through the site by introducing pedestrian paths as thoroughfares, increasing permeability from all sides.
The commercial underground market to the northwest was connected to the complex which included an auditorium, cinema hall, retail shops, and food courts in its basement level. Thus, it was a way to merge two different commercial spaces and bring more people into the cultural complex. Fostering connectivity throughout the complex at different levels, this multilayered strategy aims to create a lively hub that blends in with the site's environment and surroundings.

Diversity and Cultural Integration: In addition to being a cultural complex, the complex has spaces for festivals, leisure activities, religious gatherings, and cultural events. To make this easier, the project has included multi-use plazas that offer a flexible space that promotes social interaction, and economic development and provides a breathing space for the neighborhood.

Zoning for the cultural complex: Gulistan central mosque on the southwest of the site needs to be redesigned to function and serve the neighborhood to its capacity. Currently, it lacks an efficient main entry, lacks room, and needs upgraded architecture. The madrasa (a place of study for Islamic subjects) as its ancillary function does not have a conducive setting for learning. For the sake of the students’ physical and emotional well-being, it also needs to be rebuilt and redesigned. The mosque and madrasa on the southeast were kept separated but also connected by a plaza space in between for multi-purpose.
The cultural block was zoned separately from the religious block to its northwest. An urban plaza was placed adjacent to the water body to create a more visual connection to the dark side and bring in and accumulate more people, encouraging public activities in the plaza and the waterfront. The project aimed to consider all these factors to effectively serve the context.

Technical information

The complex is made of a mixture of brick and concrete. While the mosque uses local materials like brick, the other part of the complex uses concrete to go more in hand with the modern contemporary form.