Architecture Students from Bangladesh Exhibit at the London Design Festival
Adarshabarta Desk:
Students from Shahjalal University of Science and Technology (SUST) and Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology (BUET) exhibited their work in the In-Between Thresholds exhibition alongside students from India, the UAE and the UK during London Design Festival 2026. Abubokkar Siddiki, Visiting Lecturer and PhD researcher at the University of Westminster, invited both SUST and BUET to participate, drawing on relationships developed through years of academic and professional collaboration. OSA Studio was the official London Design Festival partner, with Cindrebay School of Design supporting the wider programme.
At SUST, Siddiki’s long-established relationship with Professor Iftekhar Rahman, supported by Assistant Professor Arifur Rahman, helped take the opportunity forward, while BUET participated through his relationship with Dr Khandaker Shabbir Ahmed. Siddiki led the development and mentoring of the students’ exhibition work, with Kaustav Kalyan providing additional mentoring support.
Hosted at Tower Tavern, University of Westminster, with support from Dr Maja Jović, the exhibition was followed on 16 September by International Pedagogy in Architectural Education at the Pavilion, Cavendish Campus. Created by Siddiki, the event brought students, academics and educators together around international pedagogy, collaboration, knowledge-sharing and two-way learning, while highlighting the role of formal university partnerships in sustaining international collaboration.
The event opened with Samir Pandya, Associate Head of College (External Relations), Creative Arts and Technologies; Dr Maja Jović, Assistant Head of School; and Dr Giulio Verdini, Director of Global Engagement, School of Architecture and Cities, University of Westminster. An educators’ conversation moderated by Siddiki included Professor Iftekhar Rahman, Head of Architecture, SUST; Eccles Ng, Course Director at Birmingham City University; Swapna Nair and Betul Tilley of Cindrebay School of Design; and Kaustav Kalyan, Architect and Assistant Professor.
The event was also attended by Sherwan Shah Kamali, General Secretary of the Shahjalal Housing Estates (Uposhohor) Expatriates Association, SUST alumni Tamim Ahmed Sobuj, and BUET alumnus Shakhawat Hossain Rocky, Partner at Cubeinside Design Limited, reflecting wider engagement from Bangladesh’s expatriate and architectural communities.
For SUST, the programme built on the six-year BCU–SUST Gramer Haor Co.Lab, initiated by Siddiki, who brought together Kaushik Saha of SUST and Eccles Ng of Birmingham City University. Based on two-way exchange, the collaboration has enabled Bangladeshi students to contribute knowledge rooted in their own communities, climate and architectural challenges.
The Co.Lab received the West Midlands National Park Award and International Award in 2022, has featured in the Landscape Institute Journal, INTBAU and RIBA Architecture, and was included in the 2023 publication Climate Adaptation and Cultural Resilience. Its work has been presented at Buckingham Palace and The Building Centre, and received a Commendation in the 2024 Commonwealth Association of Architects President’s Award. The collaboration also contributed to SUST establishing a credit-bearing Co.Lab module, pioneering international collaborative learning within undergraduate architectural education in Bangladesh.
SUST work had previously been exhibited at The Building Centre in 2023, but 2026 marked the first time SUST students travelled to the UK to exhibit and participate directly in an international panel discussion. The SUST delegation included Asma Humayun, Fatema Tasfia Alam, Zarin Tasnim, Masrafe Ahmmed Kuasha, Mukhlesur Rahman Siam, Farjana Kabir Prity, Shahrin Rahman and Tanzia Nusrat Suha. BUET was represented by Asmaul Salman, Sharafat Towsif Hossain, Adiba Zaman and Md Ashfak Nahin Chowdhury Mughdho.
The new, developing SUST–University of Westminster relationship was initiated by Siddiki, with Professor Iftekhar Rahman instrumental in taking it forward within SUST, supported by Vice-Chancellor Professor Dr Md Khairul Islam. Rahman travelled to London both to support the students and to advance the institutional relationship, supported by Associate Professor K. Taufiq Elahi. Their participation in an MoU ceremony at Westminster’s Marylebone Campus marked an important step towards future teaching, research, academic capacity building and student and staff exchange.
SUST and University of Westminster academics following the MoU ceremony at the Marylebone Campus. From left: Dr Giulio Verdini, Professor Nasser Golzari, Dr David Mathewson, Luz Navarro, Abubokkar Siddiki, Professor Iftekhar Rahman and Associate Professor K. Taufiq Elahi. Photo: Zarin Tasnim.
