Award-winning Friendship Centre, an architectural establishment of a non government organization (NGO) Friendship brings hope to the people in northern char areas of the country.
The NGO brings a ray of sunshine to the lives of people through many training programs it offers at its Friendship Centre in the Gaibandha district, such as teaching, medicine, law and even theatre.
The establishment, located in Madaner para, in the Kanchipara union of the Fulchhari upazila, Gaibandha, has impressive architecture designed by eminent architect Kashef Mahboob Chowdhury.
The Friendship Centre built as a live-in training centre for the NGO's community social workers that helps people inhabiting nearby chars (riverine islands) inspired by the Buddhist monastic architecture of the North Bengal flood plains, was awarded the Aga Khan Award for Architecture in 2016.
They were inspired by Louis Kahn, an American architect, who designed Buddhist monasteries with its forms and planned drawing on influences that integrated structural designs, which blends with natural serenity and modernity in perfectly.
The NGO is getting accolades from the world over for its astounding architectural beauty.
Offices, library, meeting rooms, and prayer and tea rooms adorn its spectacular premises in pavilion-like buildings surrounded by courts and pools. The Centre is also rented out for outside meetings, training, and conferences as a means of generating income.
The local hand-made brick construction has been inspired by the monastic aesthetic works of the 3rd century BC ruins of Mahasthangarh, the earliest urban archaeological site found in Bangladesh. In line with the rural orientation the single storey building is surrounded with greenery that it looks like a greenfield in a bird's eye view.
As Gaibandha is susceptible to flooding and earthquakes, and whose low-bearing soil has a low bearing capacity, the building is surrounded by embankments with a water run-off pumping facility which increases its beauty and protects the establishment.
Constructed and finished primarily of one material - local hand-made bricks - the spaces are woven out of pavilions, courtyards, pools and greens, corridors and shadows encircled by trees.
Lokman Hossain, manager of the centre said, to help and empower one of the neglected parts of the country, Friendship, the NGO established this 32000 sq ft training centre in 2011 on 7 bighas of land costing Tk8 crore in the riverine island of Gaibandha. The Friendship Centre is divided into two sections, the outer "Ka" block for the offices, library, and training classrooms and the inner "Kha" block for the residential section. At a time, 80 people can be trained here in four separate classrooms.
He said: "Our programs, including health, education, capacity building and women empowerment, are targeted at some of the poorest people in the country."
He elaborated on their vision in making the building with the idea "Simplicity is the intent, monastic is the feel."