Urban Explorer

Swadhinata Stambha or the Independence Monument is the national monument in Dhaka, Bangladesh to commemorate the historical events that took place in the Ramna Race Course (currently known as Suhrawardy Udyan) regarding the liberation war of Bangladesh in 1971. Where Pakistani army of occupation surrendered to the allied force and the freedom fighters of Bangladesh.

In commemoration of this historic events of Bangladesh liberation war, the Government of Bangladesh decided to restore the memories of the war and build the Swadhinata Stambha. Aga Khan award winning architects Kashef Mahboob Chowdhury and Marina Tabassum won the design competition and construction started in 1999. This prestigious project was completed in 2011 at a cost of 3 billion BDT approximately.

Recently I had the opportunity to visit Acropolis Museum in Athens. I am usually not a fan of Museums or its artifacts, but this particular museum was something different, not because of its beautiful architecture, its purely because of the concept. Built on the ruins of Acropolis and the stunning view of acropolis while enjoying the artifacts made it so special.

An award winning project of a French born Swiss architect Bernard Tschumi, the museum is built over an extensive archaeological site
the floor is often transparent using glass and thus the visitor can see the excavations below.