Dr. Iftekhar Ahmed’s academic career spans the continents – a Bachelor of Architecture from IIT, India, Master of Science in Architecture Studies from MIT in the US, and a PhD from Oxford Brookes University in the UK. Mud architecture attracted Dr. Ahmed’s early interest as an architect, in fact, it spawned his first book ‘Up to The Waist in Mud’ (University Press Limited, Bangladesh, 1994), which explored the study of mud architecture in Bangladesh. Dr. Ahmed is an Associate Professor in Construction Management/Disaster Resilience at the School of Architecture and Built Environment, College of Engineering, Science and Environment, University of Newcastle, Australia. He was previously the Program Convener of the Master of Disaster Resilience and Sustainable Development, School of Architecture and Built Environment. He teaches courses on social and policy aspects of disaster risk reduction, disaster resilience and management of the built environment and the UN Sustainable Development Goals. His research focuses on resilient and sustainable post-disaster housing systems, disaster risk reduction, participatory development, climate change adaptation and urbanization in the Asia-Pacific region. In the past, he worked as a project manager at the Asian Disaster Preparedness Center (ADPC), Thailand, and as a shelter specialist at the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), Bangladesh. Dr. Ahmed also serves widely as a consultant for international development and humanitarian agencies, particularly those working in the disaster resilience field. He has written several books and has many professional reports and peer-reviewed publications to his credit. His most recent co-authored book is “Disaster Resilience in South Asia: Tackling the Odds in the Sub-Continental Fringes” (Routledge, UK, 2020).
RA: Conversations in both academia and practice are now focusing more on disaster-resilient architectures. How do you define disaster resilience in a built environment? What are the crucial components of such resilience?
Dr. Iftekhar Ahmed:
The built environment develops from the interaction of a wide range of social, economic, cultural, political and environmental factors. Weaknesses in any of these factors can lead to vulnerability of the built environment and therefore a ‘systems approach’ is required to achieve the goals of disaster resilience. A holistic strategy is necessary, which integrates the different sectors that form and contribute to the built environment. Disaster resilience of the built environment is often understood as the physical strengthening of structures; while that is important, improvement of non-structural elements is also necessary, for example, capacity building at both institutional and community levels, early warning systems and strategies for evacuation and safe refuge. Strategic land-use and spatial planning are essential for disaster resilience of the built environment – it allows for avoiding or reducing the exposure to disaster risks that arise from locating and building settlements, facilities and infrastructure in high-risk areas. Sustainable development and disaster resilience are closely linked; many of the targets and indicators of the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals are concerned with disaster risk reduction of the built environment as a way toward a sustainable future.
Sustainable development and disaster resilience are closely linked; many of the targets and indicators of the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals are concerned with disaster risk reduction of the built environment as a way toward a sustainable future.
RA: Your wonderful works inspire us to become more sensitive toward nature and communities. We would love to know from you about the biggest challenges you have faced in the field.
Dr. Iftekhar Ahmed:
Let us look at the two terms “nature” and “communities”. While nature has psychological wellbeing and recreational value, it also has a wide range of benefits for human health and sustainability. The creation of the built environment has extensive impacts on nature in multiple ways such as the removal of trees and vegetation, and together with it, biodiversity and ecosystems. Some of these impacts can be irreversible resulting in negative effects on long-term human wellbeing. Climate change caused by human activity including the creation and operation of the built environment is one of the most serious challenges for humankind. As a built environment researcher, I would say that climate change and the future scenario of uncertainty present one of the most critical challenges that I face in my work. Disaster after disaster induced by climate change, each more severe than the last one, renders each cycle of research findings redundant, posing difficulty in translating the lessons gained when new knowledge thresholds are breached. Coming to communities, they are also confronted by such challenges due to a changing climate and environment. As I continue to work with communities around the world, it is being increasingly confirmed that apparently cohesive communities conceal a range of hierarchies and vested interests. It is thus often a challenge to understand and mediate these divergences and dissonances to arrive at research results that offer common benefits and represent the community as a whole.
As a built environment researcher, I would say that climate change and the future scenario of uncertainty present one of the most critical challenges that I face in my work.
RA: In many cases, we find that the research projects in architecture fail to support or inform ongoing practices effectively. Since you worked both at the “labs” and in the “fields”, how can we bridge the gap between these two?
Dr. Iftekhar Ahmed:
It is important to have a strong connection with relevant stakeholders or potential users of research projects. Projects that are commissioned specifically by organizations with a purpose in mind have a better chance of being utilized; in this case, there is a clearly demarcated relationship between the researchers and users. Projects that are practical and can be applied easily also have a better possibility of informing policy and practice. Unfortunately, many architectural research projects are fantasies or at best aspirational, which thus remain on the shelf. Before embarking on a research project, it is important to assess the actual need for such a project and its potential for application. This is often best conducted through consultation and engagement of stakeholders or users. It should nonetheless be borne in mind that the actual users may not be known – for example, when conducting research on high-rise apartments yet to be built, it may not be known who the occupants would be. Even in occupied apartments, the occupants may change over time, therefore, the viewpoints, use patterns and behavior can vary, making it difficult to conduct research that matches the needs of the users. Also, it is important to acknowledge that not all research has an applied nature; such research is conducted to advance knowledge and make an original contribution to the existing body of knowledge, which other researchers can subsequently build upon.
It is important to have a strong connection with relevant stakeholders or potential users of research projects. Projects that are commissioned specifically by organizations with a purpose in mind have a better chance of being utilized; in this case, there is a clearly demarcated relationship between the researchers and users.
RA: What are your suggestions for the emerging researchers and architects, who want to build their work/ career around disaster resilience and post-disaster sustainable built environment?
Dr. Iftekhar Ahmed:
It is becoming increasingly necessary for researchers and designers to understand multiple risks and the complexity they present and strive to achieve a balanced approach to addressing them.
It is important to understand the types of disaster risk in a certain area in order to design disaster-resilient buildings. For example, lightweight structures can be good in earthquakes but can be damaged by cyclones. There are many examples from around the world where vernacular architecture has demonstrated its resilience, but with climate change, the nature and extent of risk are changing, with multi-hazard situations emerging, presenting new challenges that test the age-old wisdom of vernacular architecture. It is becoming increasingly necessary for researchers and designers to understand these multiple risks and the complexity they present and strive to achieve a balanced approach to addressing them. Some examples: Buildings that have an aerodynamic shape with curvilinear designs can prove advantageous in cyclone-prone areas, but this has to be considered by balancing cost and socio-cultural acceptability; hip roofs provide better protection against wind, and there are many manuals that provide details on how to build such roofs to make them disaster-resilient. Building codes in many countries cover hazards such as earthquakes, storms and wildfires – these should be consulted and followed. In most cases, buildings that have a regular and symmetrical form prove to be more disaster-resilient than building with irregular forms such as T or L shapes, or long and narrow shapes. While it might be possible to design new resilient buildings, existing buildings can present a challenge, requiring innovative retrofitting, which can be expensive and difficult to implement, but can nonetheless protect lives and property.
RA: Today, how universities can play an essential role in built-environmental research in our country (Bangladesh)?
Dr. Iftekhar Ahmed:
Research pertaining to the built environment is not yet strongly embedded at universities in Bangladesh. Quite often, there is no specific workload allocation for research, nor is it used as a key performance indicator for academics. Most universities focus on teaching and very little emphasis is placed on research. This, however, varies across the different built environment disciplines; for example, urban and regional planning, particularly at the postgraduate level, has a stronger emphasis on research than architecture, which is more practice-oriented. Other built environment disciplines such as construction management and surveying are generally not offered at Bangladeshi universities, which limits opportunities for cross-disciplinary research. These are some of the areas that universities in Bangladesh need to recognize and thereby invest in developing research capacity, expertise and opportunities in built environment disciplines. Including research-based courses and assessments in the curricula at both undergraduate and postgraduate levels is one way of preparing students to conduct research in the future and in the process to foster a research culture. Such a culture would also require benchmarking the workload and performance of academics according to their research outputs, measured in terms of their global and national impact.
Research pertaining to the built environment is not yet strongly embedded at universities in Bangladesh. Quite often, there is no specific workload allocation for research, nor is it used as a key performance indicator for academics.
Many thanks to A/Prof. Dr. Iftekhar Ahmed for his valuable time and conversation with ‘RESEARCHITECT’.
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