03/11: Parliament

We had the opportunity to take a tour of the Bangladesh Parliament building yesterday, but could only take photos from outside. While we had a good hour and a half to two hours inside, setting a leisurely pace compared with passed visits, it felt like a very rushed visit. I could have sketched inside for hours. The shapes are simple, the material is borderline crude, but the results are powerful. Light renders all shapes and materials a bit soft, and the mid day prayer call echoed beautifully off of all the concrete surfaces. Every view and glance was rewarded with small epiphanies as alignments and axies were revealed. The professors on the trip were visiting for their third or fourth time, and said it took as many visits to really get a sense of the place. It is a building that rewards attention, inquisition, and repeat visits.

For all the restrictions we had during our visit, the biggest disappointment was finding out that the general public is not granted access inside, in fact plans for an 8′ security fence around the whole grounds only recently were put on hold.