UAP Architecture Graduate Wins First Place at PROTIDDHONI 2026

Ms. Ajmain Armin Pritu, a graduate of the Department of Architecture at the University of Asia Pacific (UAP), has secured First Place at PROTIDDHONI - National Architecture Graduate Thesis Awards 2026 for her thesis project titled "From Eid to Everyday: Reimagining Dhanmondi Shahi Mughal Eidgah as a Living Monument."

The winning project was selected through a thoughtful and rigorous jury process under the entry ADP26-061.

The thesis explores the historical and contemporary significance of the Dhanmondi Shahi Eidgah, a significant remnant of Mughal-era Dhaka established in the mid-seventeenth century under the patronage of Shah Shuja. The project recognizes the Eidgah not merely as a historic structure, but as a living cultural landscape whose openness, ritual significance, collective memory, and relationship with the surrounding city have been gradually diminished by urban development.

Ms. Pritu's design proposes to re-establish the Eidgah as a living monument by preserving its historic and sacred core, restoring openness and visual dignity, regulating surrounding edges, and integrating appropriate religious, cultural, educational, and civic functions.

The project is guided by the central concept "Architecture as a Backdrop," organized around three principles: Protect, Frame, and Activate. Through sensitive contemporary interventions, landscape integration, controlled sightlines, and selected underground programmes, the proposal keeps the historic Eidgah as the visual and spatial protagonist.

The University of Asia Pacific congratulates Ms. Ajmain Armin Pritu on this outstanding achievement and wishes her continued success in her architectural journey.