This publication brings together a selection of papers presented at the international workshop titled “Challenges in Decolonizing Architecture: Practice and Pedagogy in the Post-Colonial Global South,” held in 2025 at the University of Asia Pacific (UAP). The workshop emerged from a shared concern that architectural discourse and education in the Global South—particularly in South Asia—remain deeply influenced by inherited colonial frameworks that are often left insufficiently examined. At the same time, it responded to the growing urgency to rethink architecture as a culturally grounded, socially responsive, and context-specific practice.
Edited by Tasleem Sakoor and Imamur Hossain, this volume is organized around four interrelated thematic strands: locating cultural colonialism and decolonial built environments; architectural practice in post-colonial cities and landscapes of the Global South; hegemonic and dichotomous readings of vernacular and heritage traditions; and the challenges of decolonizing architectural pedagogy. Together, these themes reveal the multiple scales at which colonial legacies continue to operate—from urban form and professional practice to heritage discourse and the classroom.
The contributions foreground South Asian experiences while remaining attentive to broader debates across the Global South. Rather than advancing a singular decolonial position, the papers engage critically with contradictions, tensions, and unresolved questions, recognizing that decolonization is neither linear nor uniform. In doing so, the volume positions architecture as a field of dialogue—between theory and practice, history and the present, and local knowledge and global frameworks.
It is hoped that this publication will serve as a critical resource for students, educators, practitioners, and researchers seeking to reimagine architecture beyond colonial inheritances and toward more equitable and grounded futures.
Contributors:
Md Akhiruzzaman Bin Altab, Nitya Bali, Pronoy Chowdhury, Sharfin Laila Alam Dristy, Methila Farjana, Imamur Hossain, Asia Jabeen, Amity Kundu, Sayeda Jafrina Nancy, Fariba Samia Omi, Professor Haroon Ur Rashid, Nubras Samayeen, Professor Tasleem Shakur, Apurva Sinha, Aneela Yaseen.
Hello, Sign in 
Cart 
