Abstract:
City halls are vital to the overriding functionality of a place and impact our lives every day,
yet they often have no physical connection with the general public, standing as urban
ornaments that can appear more like abstract symbols than vibrant civic hubs. They must work
as practical vessels that facilitate complex municipal tasks each day, but cannot avoid their
secondary function: to stand as advertisements for the cities they are situated in and form a
telling metaphor for the city council’s relationship with their civilian population. The issue
can be achieved by designing buildings and external spaces that more closely integrate
administrative buildings with the public realm. At present the Dhaka North City Corporation
is functioning in a multistoried building situated in Gulshan-2 circle. The office currently
owns only 25% of the building and the rest is rented-out commercial space which does not
belong to DNCC authority. Such a limited space is not sufficient for a city corporation head
office to function. . The project is to design a fully functional headquarter building for Dhaka
North City Corporation, providing maximum facilities for the municipal authority to function,
as well as for the citizens to visit and enjoy having a space for their own: their Nagar Bhaban.
To carry out this research, the researcher had to study the relevant literatures such as: History
of City halls, Birth of Democracy, Concept of City halls, Role of City Halls in the life of
citizens, local and international case studies, standard studies from BNBC etc.
