Domus India – March 2018

Project: Franco German Embassy

Location: Baridhara, Dhaka, Bangladesh

Client: Government of France; Government of

Federal Republic of Germany; Ministry of Foreign

and European Affairs

Architect: Stephane Paumier Architects (S.P.A

Design Pvt. Ltd.)

Design team: Stephane Paumier, Atika Jain, Ashwin

Bhargava, Sagarika Suri, Gayatri Eshwaran, Gargi

Roy, Chinmay Kumar Mohanta, Hugo Badia-Berger

Site Area: 7895 sq. m.

Project Area: 6500 sq. m.

Civil Contractors: National Development Engineers

Ltd. (NDE)

Structural Engineers: Axis Structural Consultants

Services: MP- Utility Consultants E-Gazi

consultants

Other Consultants:

Resident architects: Synthesis Architects

Project manager: Deltadesh Pvt. Ltd.

Model-maker: J.K Modelers

Initiation of Project: 2013

Completion of Project: 2017

Other details: Photographs: Amit Pasricha;

Artist: Elsa Sahal; Landscape architect: Arnaud

Hug, Paysagiste, D.P.L.G Tours

Kaiwan Mehta in conversation with
Stephane Paumier, Director, S.P.A Design

Kaiwan Mehta: This is indeed a unique project
— can you tell us the basic history of this pro-
gramme and building?
Stephane Paumier: The decision by the two coun-
tries to come up with joint embassies is an outcome
of the Elysee Treaty of 1963 that encourage joint
initiatives. The Élysée Treaty was one of friendship
between France and West Germany, signed by
President Charles de Gaulle and Chancellor Kon-
rad Adenauer on January 22, 1963 at the Élysée
Palace in Paris. The signing of this important
treaty marked the end of centuries of rivalry be-
tween France and Germany, and the beginning
of a foundation for cordial relations.
In practice, I have myself been a beneficiary of
the treaty in learning German at school and
benefiting from the continuous exchange with
Germany when I was at school. It was a powerful
movement when I was growing up, that has
unfortunately passed with the collapse of the USSR,
globalisation and the domination of English, I
guess. The Franco German joint embassies
projects, however, is more recent; it is a Chi-
rac-Schroeder initiative, developed in around

2000. It has taken place in a new building, built
      for that purpose for the first time in Dhaka. It is
      somehow also an embryo of what European
      embassies could become in the future.
      KM: What were your first thoughts and ideas
      when you approached designing for a programme
      and building such as this one?

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FGE Site Plan

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