The Seoul Biennale of Architecture and Urbanism was held from 16th September to 31st October 31, 2021. The third edition of this Biennale, entitled “Crossroads: Building the Resilient City”, continued its exploration of the world’s cities. While some 50 cities were represented in 2017, then 85 in 2019, Seoul welcomed contributions from more than a hundred cities from the five continents in 2021. This year’s theme attempted to respond to the complexity of the relationships that shape our cities and to the key time that humanity is currently facing by drafting a manifesto for a more sustainable city. SBAU2021 included participants representing a broad range of expertise: architects and urban planners, representatives from cities and metropolises, but also experts in science, engineering, humanities, artists, academics or students.
For this year’s Biennale, Saif Ul Haque designed an installation that is a representation of Dhaka city as it exists today, and a few possibilities for the future. The installation is an artwork occupying a circular space of 4 metres in diameter. It consists of steel pipes arranged horizontally and vertically, with panels of bamboo chick curtains, printed papers, fabrics and kites hanging from the horizontal pipes. There are 32 panels in total in the installation, each one describing one aspect of Dhaka city. In a presentation, he discusses each of the panels in detail, including the social, political and historical aspects behind them.
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