On-campus classes resumed in AIUB since the Spring 2022 semester after a long hiatus and the Department of Architecture is bustling once again with lectures, workshops, jury and student activities of various sorts. As a continuation of these events, an interactive lecture titled "Winners' Talk" was organized by the Department where some of the recent Architecture Graduates from various universities presented their final-year Theses/Projects that have been acclaimed nationally and internationally at various prestigious platforms. The program was held at Multipurpose Hall (annex 7) on Tuesday, 29^th March 2022.

The final project/thesis of architecture undergraduate program is considered to be of great significance in terms of assessing the creativity, merit and overall learning outcome of a student. It is the result of months of rigorous work. At the end of the process, the designer needs to defend his concept and proposed solutions in front of a jury of external and internal experts. There’s much to learn for the current students from the verbal and multi-media presentations of a brilliantly done Thesis. So, the Department of Architecture, AIUB took this initiative to invite the following Theses/ Projects that received significant national and international distinctions, to stimulate some thought-provoking discussions. 

• An Anamnesis: Reconstruction of a War-torn Community
  Presenter: Tasneem Jarin
  BUET Graduate (Feb, 2021) 
  Regional Winner (Asia) - The Global Undergraduate Awards, 2021
  3rd position winner - “KSRM Awards for Future Architects: Best undergraduate Thesis”, 2021.

• Congruity of a Commercial Urban Block: Elephant Road Shoe Market, Dhaka
  Presenter: Golam Mahmudur Rahman
  AIUB Graduate (2019) 
  3rd position winner, “KSRM Awards for Future Architects: Best undergraduate Thesis”, 2019.

• School of Thought in 2020: Envisioning a Multidisciplinary and Collaborative Design School in Bangladesh
  Presenter: Md Yafiz Siddiqui 
  BUET Graduate (Feb, 2021) 
  Received Commendation at The Global Undergraduate Awards, 2021
  Enlisted in Top 100 at Tamayouz Excellence Award, 2021.

• Soliloquy of a city, Kushtia: Exploring the history of cultural capital
  Presenter: Tabassum Sultana
  UAP Graduate (2021)
  2nd position winner - “KSRM Awards for Future Architects: Best undergraduate Thesis”, 2021.

• Weaving Shared Reality, A Sustainable Model for RMG workers
  Presenter: Rahat Ibna Hasan 
  BUET Graduate (Feb, 2021)
  Received Honourable mention at Tamayouz Excellence Award, 2021.

The presenters demonstrated their work to address various geo-political, social, economic, and rapid urbanization issues of modern world such as housing crisis in war torn Syria, designing huge-scale commercial spaces in Dhaka’s dense urban setup, the future of collaborative education at tertiary level in Bangladesh, retrieval of a place's cultural-historical identity and sustainable housing solutions for RMG workers in Dhaka. The session was particularly beneficial for senior students (Studio VII to Studio X) who asked a wide range of questions to the presenters on concept development, functional rationalization, presentation style, visualisations, illustrations, etc. Faculties also took part in the discussion.

To conclude the event, Head of the Department, M. Arefeen Ibrahim expressed gratitude and delivered a vote of thanks to the presenters, organizers, AIUB Management and participants. The organizer team of this event consisted of Ar. Md. Sariful Islam, Ar. Nazifa Zabeen Siddiqua, and Ar. Md Tarek Morad. The presenters thanked Dept. of Architecture, AIUB for inviting them and creating this vibrant platform for thought-provoking discussions. Following the enthusiastic response received from students, Department of Architecture wishes to continue similar events in future as well.