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Architects: Marina Tabassum Architects
- Area: 6070 m²
- Year: 2020
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Photographs:City Syntax, Asif Salman
Text description provided by the architects. The Hamidur Rahman Memorial Complex is located along the Buringanga River in Fatullah. The sprawling grounds are screened from the street by a high wall. The former Hamid family home was built in the 1960s at the site's western end, directly on the riverbank. In the years that followed, leading to the country's independence, it was a secret meeting place and served as a hideout for Awami League politicians who could reach the house unseen by boat. After 1971, a cold storage facility was built on the property for commercial purposes, and nine years later, a multi-story textile factory was built. The family home remained unused with all these developments, which led to its dilapidation.
Nasrul Hamid, the current Minister of State for Power, Energy, and Mineral Resources, initiated the project as a place of remembrance for his father, Hamidur Rahman. The latter was a founding member of the Awami League and the party's treasurer. He is buried in the southern part of the site. By Muslim tradition, the grave is merely a slight mound facing Mecca.
A concrete pavilion with a pitched roof was built adjacent to the grave as a smaller memorial installation. The linearity of the site was broken into courtyards by introducing two pavilions. The former double-story residence on the riverbank was partly restored and partly demolished to allow space for a private museum. The plan is to exhibit historical memorabilia in this house. In the northern part of the property, the raw material store of the textile factory has been repurposed as a weekend house with two bedrooms, two bathrooms, and a loft-like living area, which was added to the factory for the family.
The overall Hamidur Rahman Memorial complex has the character of an open-air architectural promenade of separate structures. Their abstraction makes them resemble a sculpture park that visitors can walk through.
