Discourse has declared an International Design Competition entitled as ‘Draupadi’s Residece’.
Draupadi is one of the most important characters of Mahabharata. She was the wife of five pandavas in the story.
Text from Wikipedia:
“While in exile, Kunti, mother of the Pandavas often advised her sons that they share everything they have (or obtain) equally amongst themselves. During that time, Arjuna attended Draupadi’s swayamvara and won her hand in marriage. When he returned, he triumphantly declared “Look mother, what I have brought!”. Kunti, unmindful of what Arjuna was referring to, unassumingly asked her son to share whatever it is with his brothers. Thus, in order to obey their mother’s order all five accepted Draupadi as their wife. This is fraternal polyandry.

According to another source, when Sage Vyasa visits the family, he explains to Draupadi that her unique position as the wife of five brothers results from a certain incident in her previous birth. She had in that lifetime prayed to Lord Shiva to grant her a husband with five desired qualities. Lord Shiva, pleased with her devotion, tells her that it is very difficult to get a husband with all five qualities that she desired. But she sticks to her ground and asks for the same. Then Lord Shiva grants her wish saying that she would get the same in her next birth. Hence she gets married to five brothers each who represents a given quality. Nevertheless Draupadi always favoured Arjun above the rest of his brothers, she loved him with all her heart. And Draupadi too was Arjun’s favourite out of his four wives

None of the Draupadi’s children survived by the end of the epic. Parikshit, grandson of Subhadra and Arjuna, was the sole Kuru dynast who survived at the end of Mahabharata.”
Follow these links to know more about the stories of Draupadi:
>Draupadi: in Wikipedia
>Draupadi: Icon of True Indian Woman
>Draupadi: Epitome of Feminism

More links and information about the competition will be published very shortly.

Today a review will be held in the Discourse on the competition by Architect Nurur Rahman Khan. And he will present his design of Draupadi’s Residence in today’s lecture. Please be present in todays Discourse to know more about the competition details. Discourse98.com will publish the review of todays discussions.

When: at 17:30, on 17th May, 2007
Where: Open Studio, Department of Architecture,
The University of Asia Pacific.

Peter Eisenman seems one of the most influencial architects of the contemporary time.
It is said that if Jacques Derrida started the deconstructive phylosophies for architecture, Eisenman rendered it in practice.
Peter Eisenman (born August 11, 1932 in Newark, New Jersey) is one of the foremost practitioners of deconstructivism in American architecture. Eisenman’s fragmented forms are identified with an eclectic group of architects that have been, at times unwillingly, labelled deconstructivists. Although Eisenman shuns the label, he has had a history of controversy aimed at keeping him in the public (academic) eye. His theories on architecture pursue the emancipation and autonomy of the discipline and his work represents a continued attempt to liberate form from all meaning, a struggle that most find difficult to understand. He always had strong cultural relationships with European intellectuals like his English mentor Colin Rowe and the Italian historian Manfredo Tafuri. The work of philosopher Jacques Derrida is a key influence in Eisenman’s architecture.

On the coming Thursday we are going to listen to a lecture by Architect Nurur Rahman Khan on the works and philosophies of Peter Eisenman as a part of the lecture series on the Theories and Manifestos of Contemporary Architecture. Hope everyone will get a lot from this discussion… so you are invited, come and join in the exciting discourse session.
When: at 17:30 hrs. on 19.04.2007 Thursday.
Where: Open Studio, Department of Architecture, The University of Asia Pacific,
H#51, R#4A, Dhanmondi, Dhaka, Bangladesh.

Cengiz Yetken is a person who worked with Luis I Kahn when Kahn was designing the National Assembly building in Dhaka.
Tomorrow he’s coming to join with us in Discourse.
We can listen about the experience of working with Kahn when he was designing his largest and the most recognized project on the earth and others intimately about Kahn’s architecture. It will be a great opportunity for everyone to participate in the question and answer session with Cengiz Yetken in Discourse.

So don’t miss this exclusive event. Everyone is invited to participate as per schedule.
When: at sharp 18:00, March 20th, Tuesday
Where: The Open Studio, Dept. of Architecture,
The University of Asia Pacific,
H#51, R#4A, Dhanmondi R/A, Dhaka,
Bangladesh.

Keep looking Discourse and ArchSociety for any latest updates.

As declared before, the second session of Discourse on the topic ‘Theories and Manifestos of Architecture’ By NR Khan is going to be held on coming Saturday Afternoon.
On the first session we talked about the preliminary theories of architecture relating from history to present. Now on these upcoming sessions architect NR Khan will focus on more in depth discussion on contemporary theories.
Everyone is invited.