SENSIBLE ARCHITECTURE FOR HILL: A WALK TOWARDS SERENITY WITH QUANTUMOM

Bangladesh University, Department of Architecture, Dhaka

Project idea

Hills are always attractive because of their natural features; therefore, the architecture of hilly areas requires special considerations because of terrain, climate, ever-changing weather, materials etc. Bangladesh has hilly terrain covering 18% of the total country, which is blessed with enormous resources. Nevertheless, the physical development in the hilly areas of Bangladesh has not taken into consideration the particular features of the hills. Besides, proper building rules & regulations are not being maintained, which is badly hampering the whole environment and the surrounding inhabitants.
This project tries to find some ways to set a sensible architecture for hills in the context of Bangladesh without harming nature & using both modern & vernacular materials with building techniques of the indigenous people which are more feasible & sustainable for hilly areas. The main idea of the project is to create architecture by blending three main features: Characteristics of Hill, Context and Traditional Essence.

Considering all the aspects related to architecture & nature, the importance of this project is very significant. Through this study, a significant experiment is done where hill & architecture are blended rationally without interrupting each other. To boost the importance of meditation and its effects on human life, it can be perceived throughout the project. Overall, by implementing different sides and features of this project, both sensible architecture for the hill and spiritual serenity can be achieved and this is also economically effective as Bandarban is one of the most important tourist areas in Bangladesh.

Project description

As the focus was to work in a hilly area, the meditation center of Quantumom at Keyaju Para in Lama, Bandarban was selected as the site as there is a relationship between meditation and hills/ nature with an area of 200 acres. The existing site area's physical features are hampering nature & the environment.
The main conceptual idea is to create a ‘Spiritual Journey’ from the lower part to the peak of the hill. Through this ‘Spiritual Journey’, a person can achieve mental and physical peacefulness, as a sacred space for meditation is supposed to be placed on the top areas to distinguish it from the common areas. The relationship between meditation and water is also considered to achieve serenity and the design is guided by natural resources. The spiritual pathway and contemplative zones are designed with reference to the cascades to hear the sound of water during meditation and contemplation. By capturing the sound of water for meditation during rain works to heal the mind and to animate the spaces during rainy days. The built forms are designed lightly with less intervention so that the characteristics of the hills are not disturbed and people can connect more with nature and spirit while meditating. Different meditation spaces are designed through 3 levels of meditation (Primary, Secondary & Spiritual level) along with the hill level.

There are 3 basic zones: Public, Residential and Meditation & Yoga. The vehicular & pedestrian routes are separated intentionally for safety issues. Both traditional (wood, straw, thatch) & modern (brick, concrete, steel) materials & structural systems are incorporated into this project for sustainability.

Technical information

Sustainable Architecture
Vernacular Materials
Modern Technology
Spiritual Pathway
Environment Friendly
Traditional Essence
Serenity

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