Department of Architecture, BUET

ering. In 1948, the School was upgraded at its present premises as the Ahsanullah Engineering College and, as the Faculty of Engineering under the University of Dhaka. It was then offering four -year undergraduate programmes in Civil, Electrical, Mechanical, Chemical and Metallurgical Engineering. The college was set up to meet the increasing demand for engineers and to advance engineering education in the newly constituted country of Pakistan. In 1962, in order to facilitate postgraduate studies and research, and with the addition of a new faculty, that of Architecture, the Ahsanullah Engineering College was alleviated to the status of a university of engineering and technology. Following the independence of Bangladesh in 1971, it became the Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology. In 1976 BUET celebrated its centenary of establishment in 1876 and in 2012 BUET along with the Department of Architecture celebrated its 50 years as university and architectural education in the country respectively. The Department of Architecture

The process of industrialization and urbanization in the then East Pakistan (now Bangladesh) in the 1950s led to hectic development which suffered from lack of technological support. In view of the challenging situation, the Department of Architecture was established alongside the existing engineering education. The founding of the Department in 1962 helped in the transformation of the then Ahsanullah Engineering College to a full-fledged University. From its inception till 1990, the Department was the only institution of its kind imparting architectural education in the country. At present the Faculty of Architecture and Planning has three Departments: Architecture, Urban and Regional Planning and Humanities. DEPARTMENTAL PROFILE

Undergraduate students 349

Postgraduate students 39

Academic staff 34

Technical & secretarial staff 9



Despite the support of the Texas A&M University, the Department had a humble beginning with only one expatriate teacher, Professor Richard E.Vrooman, and six students. By the year 1965 there were four American teachers and 68 students at five levels. The year 1966 is a landmark in the history of Architectural education in this country. It was the year when the first five students graduated in Architecture after the completion of the 5-year programme. In the same year six Bangalees, on obtaining their degrees in architecture from the USA returned to bolster the teaching staff. In 1968 all the expatriates left, entrusting the programme entirely with the local staff. Shah AlamZahiruddin took over as the first Dean of the School. Tragedy hit the programme with the death of Ahsanur Rahman, a dedicated teacher of the faculty on June 27,1967. In fond memory of the late teacher, the Ahsanur Rahman Award was instituted in 1968 to support postgraduate studies at the time. The award has since then been presented to students who achieve a high level of design and scholastic excellence in Architecture. With the independence of Bangladesh in 1971 the building industry gained a new lease of life. The pressure of students intending to study architecture increased continually. Initially, the yearly intake of students at the first year level was 25. In 1973, the number was raised to 30, in 1977 to 35 and again to 50 in 1980. Since 1995-96 enrolment is 55 students per batch. Consequently the number of teachers has also increased. At present, the Department has a total of 36 teachers, 24 of whom have post-graduate degrees with specializations in Housing, Environment, Urban Design, Health Facilities, educational Facilities and so on. In 1979, as the demand for higher education increased, a programme offering the Master of Architecture degree was introduced. From 1993-94 the department is offering PhD programme. The Department celebrated its Silver Jubilee in 1986 and completed 50 years in 2012. Since 1967, degrees awarded to

Bachelor of Architecture 1528 students

Master of Architecture 45 students


Current Head of the department :
Dr. Shayer Ghafur

(https://arch.buet.ac.bd/people_faculty/dr-shayer-ghafur/)

*from http://www.buet.ac.bd/arch/about_us.htm .