Limestone Mining and Cement Works Housing,
Joypurhat, Bangladesh, 1978
“The discovery of limestone deposits at a depth of 1700 feet, just outside the town of Joypurhat, led to the development by the Oil and Mineral Exploration and Development Corporation of extensive housing and related facilities for mining workers on a large site surrounded by paddy fields. The famous Buddhist ruins of Paharpur Monastery lie 4 miles from the site.
The project design followed guidelines of the Planning Commission for Government Housing. Separate housing complexes are designated for various categories of officers and workers. The common facilities for the families of 2,000 employees include a clinic and hospital, school, playing fields, a bazaar and a mosque. The plan employs the web of tilted squares explored earlier at Jahangirnagar University. The major task for an architect in hot-humid Bangladesh is to allow through ventilation in rooms and to avoid unequal temperature loads on different walls. The predominant wind from the south during the summer months dictates an east-west orientation of buildings, with large openings on the north and south walls. When a spatial enclosure is created by placing four buildings perpendicular to each other, the buildings facing east-west have disproportionately high heat loads and inadequate ventilation. Islam addressed this issue by tilting the square plan of the enclosures 45 degrees, and by running all interior walls of the buildings exactly north south. The courtyard-like spaces function as play areas for children, meeting grounds for families, and vegetable gardens.”
Reference:
“An Architecture of Independence: The making of Modern South Asia”
By Kazi Khaleed Ashraf
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