Delwar Hossain Playground and Crematorium | Shatotto

Communal Harmony

The park is situated at the edge of the city near the Buriganga River, which once used to belong to the Hindu community for their cremation rites. As the population in Dhaka started to increase, the demography of the area started to change with the settlement of Muslim community. With this surge of population, the open to sky cremation has become quite a challenge to continue as carbon pollution increased and that resulted in conflicts. Moreover, dirt started to be piled up nearby the pond, making it inconvenient for the Hindu community to proceed with their formalities, dwindling the continuation of the rites. Therefore, unhappiness prevailed in the area, negatively impacting relationship and dynamics amongst the neighbors.

It was the aim of Shatotto to get rid of the unhappiness and diminish the tension through appropriate design. Through an active engagement with all the community members, the crematorium pond was restored which was essential for the ritual along with the design of the public plaza with the ample amount of space for children to play and for other communal activities. There was an unused public toilet which was later transformed into a gym. Requirements of the Muslim community were also met with the design of proper prayer space for them with the proper renovation of the mazar. The entire goal of the design team was to create harmony and promote secularism in this park through a responsible design.