Anukrom: A mother’s dream, a son’s guilt and an award-winning home
Anukrom – a village home in rural Chattagram – is a story of family, love and redemption revolving around a deceased mother, a guilty son and a sensitive architect. It recently won the prestigious VI Baku International Architecture Award
One evening in 2020, architect Asif M Ahsanul Haq had a visitor in his office, Venna Architects. Iqbal Chowdhury, CEO of a multinational company, wanted to show Asif M the design of a village home.
Initially, Asif didn't think much of his prospective client's plan to build a home in his ancestral village in Alamdar Para, Patiya, Chattogram. He offered tea to the client. As he quietly sipped the tea, Asif started examining the plan for the village home.
It was a simple draft plan on a 1784.92 square metre of land. There was a road circling its west and north sides, a mosque right beside that road, a home on the east and a village pond on the west.
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But what startled Asif was a space marked right outside, north of the site, as the "grave." As curiosity gave in, he asked Iqbal about it.
A mother's dream
The marked grave is where Iqbal's mother, Islam Khatun, was laid to rest in 2009.
Many years ago, just before the Liberation War and after her wedding, she relocated to Dhaka with her husband Ibrahim Chowdhury for his business. After the war, they returned to Chattogram and started living there permanently.
Together, Islam and Ibrahim had six children, all of whom were born and raised in Chattogram city. The children grew up, got married and started their own families.
Their days were happy. But being away from their ancestral home in Alamdar Para meant they had relinquished their claim to the Chowdhury Bari. Whenever the family visited the village home, they had to stay at their relatives' places – awkward and even heartbreaking days.
Since the sense of belonging to that place lingered in Islam Khatun's heart, she held onto the idea of a home that could reclaim their roots in Patiya. She shared her dream with her children again and again. But the children, engrossed in their lives, did not do much beyond hearing the mother's words.
During a 2009 Eid, Islam Khatun once again brought up her desire to have the gathering in their village home at Patiya, and all of the children agreed that it would be a good idea. However, the joyful Eid celebration took a sombre and tragic turn when Islam Khatun suffered a stroke and passed away at the age of 63, just a day after Eid.
For her youngest son, Iqbal Chowdhury, it was a pivotal moment. He decided to purchase the land in front of his mother's final resting place, fulfilling her longstanding desire for a home at their ancestral place.
Doing so proved more difficult than he expected, requiring time worth a decade. So, when he finally made the purchase, he drafted a plan for a village home and, because of a friend's recommendation, visited Asif from Venna Architects.
"When Iqbal Chowdhury was telling me the story of his mother and her dream of their village home, tears flowed from his eyes. I could feel the guilt and regret in him. But more importantly, I could feel his love for his mother, how much he missed her, and how much he wanted to be near her," shared Architect Asif M Ahsanul Haq.
"Hearing his story, all I could think about was my mother, who had also passed away a few years back. And instantly, that project claimed my heart," he added. "Architecture is nothing but the translation of stories. And I wanted to build a village home that could create stories, just like Islam Khatun wanted."
Thus, the dream of a mother for a place she could call her own and a son's guilt for failing to fulfil his mother's dream during her lifetime birthed Anukrom, short for bongshanukrom, which loosely translates to "generations."
Today, Anukrom has become a place where holidays mean heartfelt gatherings in Patiya. Iqbal, his siblings and his father, Ibrahim Chowdhury, pay regular visits. They find solace and belongingness in the presence of the late Islam Khatun's grave.
Friends and relatives join in, enjoying the front uthan and the gram-pukur.
Building the 'solitude of space'
"The concept of the 'solitude of space' has been realised through Anukrom, offering the gift of solitary reflection in a world of perpetual commotion. It's where one can escape the world's clamour, seeking profound self-discovery, an introspective journey that transcends boundaries between this world and the next," explained Asif.
The architectural design of Anukrom is a triumph of purpose and ingenuity – a rectangular structure that stretches east to west, crafting out two courtyards.
"It was especially important for me to build this home in a way that would create a seamless flow of movement, both for humans and natural elements such as air and light," Asif said. "I tried to eliminate any obstructions in accessing the space, and I did it in two parts."
From the entrance to the patio to the service building to the bedrooms on the first floor, the entire place can be seen and accessed without any obstruction. The living room area is double-spaced, the high ceiling gives off the feeling of openness with skylight flooding the entire space with natural light.
The second layer of elimination of obstruction comes in the form of an outdoor field. Asif kept the entrance of Anukrom on the west side of the plot, making the small yard on the south of the house the parking lot.
He said, "I could've kept the main entrance on the north side of the plot, making it more convenient for everyone to access the graveyard and Islam Khatun's grave. But that'd also mean filling the space between the mother's grave and her beloved family members with machines like cars and noise."
So, the architect kept a large space between the patio and the grave, keeping it open for the family members to use it - from playing football to having an outdoor picnic.
"It connects the house, the reality, with the mother's grave, the spiritual realm. This open space thus becomes a field of 'finite-infinity'," said Asif. "An eternal bond and spiritual connection between the husband and the wife or the children with their mother is thus created through this solitude of space characterised by finite-infinity."
The entrance through the front yard leads to the "kachari ghar," a gathering place for the villagers when Iqbal, his siblings or Ibrahim Chowdhury, visits Anukrom. It is also a place that Iqbal's wife, Dr Shehrin Akther Shifa, uses as her chamber to serve the villagers when she visits Anukrom. This multipurpose area is where Ibrahim Chowdhury often resides during his visits.
Beyond the kachari ghar, the entry gate leads to the living cum dining room, connected by a patio capable of accommodating a sizable gathering. This flexible space effortlessly merges with the living and dining areas, fostering community and togetherness.
A transition from this lively public area leads you to the private zone through another door, where a stairway ascends to the upper floor. The kachari area connects to a kitchen located in the service building. Apart from the outer kitchen, the service building also hosts a caretaker room and driver room.
The upper floor has a long bridge that leads to an open terrace, from which the main entrance and the village pond can be seen. This visual connection to the village pond, bridging indoor and outdoor living, brings the neighbourhood and its surroundings closer, fostering a sense of unity.
To the south, the family living area transitions into a small prayer room. A horizontal slit in the south opens up to the "solitude of space," where the mother's grave is also visually connected.
"As you pray here, you can see the mother's resting place once you turn your head to the left, before concluding the prayer with a salam. This is enough to bring you closer to your deceased loved ones, provoking their thoughts and memories in you," shared Asif.
Anukrom, which won first place in the prestigious VI Baku International Architecture Award as "the best-implemented project in the field of architecture of residential buildings," is not merely a dwelling for Ibrahim Chowdhury and his family. As Asif M Ahsanul Haq points out, it is a testament to the profound emotions that connect generations and a sanctuary that invites solitary reflection.
"It is a place where past and present coexist, memories are cherished and spirituality finds its place in reality," said Asif.
Blending into the community
The building, with its rustic charm, boasts an exposed brick structure that stands firmly atop a continuous RCC foundation and grade beams. While it may seem like a simple design at first glance, a closer examination reveals the clever incorporation of concealed columns within the brick walls to support a towering 6.55-meter-high northern wall.
The walls are built with 254mm (127mm + 127mm) gas burn bricks, with a gap between them designed for electrical cables and equipped with ventilation holes to disperse moisture and heat trapped between the two layers.
The architects paid meticulous attention to detail, ensuring that the building not only stood strong but also offered optimal comfort.
Windows and openings were carefully placed and designed, offering a seamless blend of indoor and outdoor spaces. The choice of materials for the windows, including MS swing windows and casement openings with clear glass, added a touch of elegance to the building.
The staircase was built with a single-flight design supported by MS sections and angles, complemented by precast slabs for treads.
For the doors of the rooms, practical flash doors were used, ensuring privacy and functionality. A special folding door, crafted from ply and a wooden frame, separated the living and dining areas from the patio, adding flexibility to the layout.
Throughout the building, natural light was optimised using NCF (Natural Cross Ventilation) with glass lining, ensuring a bright and inviting interior. The patio area featured exposed brick flooring, giving it a distinctive character. At the same time, the veranda and terrace floors were finished with a rough concrete surface, adding a touch of texture to the outdoor spaces.
"When we started constructing Anukrom, one of our top priorities was to build a home that wouldn't disrupt the harmony of nature and the village but blend into the community," said Asif, "And from that idea, we used locally sourced material for the project."
