Niklaus Graber – Faraway, yet so close

Niklaus Graber is architect and co-curator of the exhibition ‘Faraway So Close – Kashef Chowdhury‘.

Not too many of us are likely to be familiar with current architectural developments in Bangladesh’s tropical delta region. This area, blessed with cultural and scenic riches has so far barely been present in the global architectural debate but that is about to change, due to excellent works emerging from a vibrant architecture movement.

Buildings designed by architects like Kashef Chowdhury/URBANA for example are not just of a high interest in a spatial and architectural sense, they also bears witness to the high societal relevance of architecture as a discipline. It is an architecture that thoughtfully and inventively addresses urgent issues such as climate change, water regime, migration or the re-activation of rural areas.

Via local action, carefully developed from the country’s specific history and geography, current trends in Bangladesh are taking on global significance that moves us closer to many themes which were once thought to be faraway.