লালন ফকিরের দর্শনের আলোয় রফিক আজম : পুরান ঢাকার নতুন গল্প বাংলাদেশে স্থাপত্য In the light of Lalon Fakir's philosophyRafiq Azam : Old Dhaka–New Story Architecture in Bangladesh

Abstract

In the scope of this article, Lalon Fakiri philosophy informs an understanding of architectural design as a human practice, drawing on the architectural principles of Prof. Rafiq Azam. Contemporary urbanization is shown to have become increasingly human-detached through the prioritization of market value, control, and exclusion. In this context, Lalon Fakiriya philosophy gains particular relevance by positioning “human beings” as the ultimate truth beyond religion, class, or authority. The monograph Rafiq Azam : Old Dhaka–New Story : Architecture of Bangladesh presents Azam’s architectural practice as one that resists a purely mechanistic and reductionist conception of design. His work reclaims architectural practice as a relational, contextual, and climate-conscious experience rather than a mere commodity, even while operating within the constraints of capitalist economy.

The article argues that humane and sustainable urban composition depends less on technology alone and more on relationships—between people, nature, and place—drawing on Marxist urban critique, Gramsci’s concept of hegemony, and contemporary systems thinking. It ultimately asks whether architecture can still accommodate the human condition of everflowingness despite the constraints imposed by modern urban culture.